Moscheea Esmahan Sultan, Southeast Romania, Romania

5Tharik H 5:00 PM Jun 8, 2014

Hidden Ottoman gem; the refuge of an intriguing Ottoman ruler!
This modest, little whitewashed mosque built in 1573, sits unassumingly by the coast in the town of Mangalia - I discovered it towards the end of a sojourn along the Dobrogea coastline in search of the Romani's lost Islamic history and it was easily the most exciting of all my finds - not for it's looks or architectural magnificence, but for the tantalising prospects it offered. Firstly there is the claim that it was built by an Ottoman princess. The brown sign at the entrance then says that Princess Esma, daughter of Sultan Selim II, and her husband took refuge there in and this is where the story gets interesting. Princess Esma's husband was none other than Sokullu Mehmet Pasha, the most fascinating Grand Vizier the Turkish empire ever had - born a Christian in modern-day Bosnia, Mehmet Pasha rose to such heights of power that it is said he actually ran the Ottoman empire! His reign as Grand Vizier began under Suleiman the Magnificant, continued under Selim II and ended during Murad III's rule, when he was mysteriously murdered by a 'mad' dervish. Quite why the royal couple might have taken refuge here, towards the end of Mehmet Pasha's life, is not explained, but given his power and the conspiracy theories that abound about the increasingly powerful female Sultanas who despised his sway in the Ottoman courts - when you visit, it makes for an interest muse as you wander around the most interesting feature of all; the cemetery surrounding the mosque. This cemetery confirms that the Esmahan was definitely no ordinary mosque. Each of the tombs are of important Ottoman rank, indicated by the carved stone headstones in the shape of Ottoman headdresses, quite who lays beneath is yet another interesting muse. Today, the Esmahan is a functioning mosque with daily prayers held for the mainly local elderly Romanian-Turkish community, themselves descendants of the Ottomans. The mosque itself is a small, modest building undergoing a privately-funded renovation by a Turkish businessman whose name is on a wooden plaque inside. The interior is largely original and contains many features typical of Ottoman mosques such as the prayer niche and slim minaret. Taking in the mosque and climbing the medieval minaret won't take long, and before you inspect the intriguing tombstones it is worth having a glass of Turkish tea inside the little tea house by the entrance, which is looked after by a kindly Romanian-Tatar woman and her son, who can converse in some English, though like most people there he knows very little about the actual mosque - for that, you will have to rely on and assume to be true, what is on the brown sign outside, and if you read between the lines, it makes some fascinating claims indeed. As well as linking the mosque to a princess and Sokullu Mehmet Pasha there is a quote by medieval Turkish traveler Evla Celebi on the sign which suggests that the town of Mangalia itself had a rich Islamic past too, for he describes it as thus: “Go to Mangalia, which is the Kaaba Mecca of the wandering poor people!” The Esmahan is not a stunning monument and you shouldn't be coming here to be visually wowed, it is how it fuels the imagination and the links this tiny little mosque claims to have with the intriguing Ottoman figures that make this a site worth wandering through. For while you are here you will find yourself asking, why here? Who were they taking refuge from? Who lies beneath those headstones? And what made Celebi compare this place to Islam's holiest site, Mecca?!? For those visiting as tourists, there is a small fee to pay at the entrance whilst Muslim can use the mosque freely like any other mosque in the world. Sokollu's amazing tale and my discovery of this mosque - not on Tripadvisor beforebefore this review - can be read here: http://thewanderingmusulman.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/romania-islamic-really/

5Anne R 5:00 PM Aug 4, 2019

Beautiful place
Very kind people. Good coffee to drink in the area especially created in the garden. The price to visit the moschee is 5 lei and the kids are not paying. The woman who stayed with us was kind and replied to our questions. We could see also the place in the moschee where the women are allowed (it is upstairs).