Dzhumaya Mosque: Plovdiv’s Early Ottoman Friday Mosque
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Bulgaria
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Ottoman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Mosque
On this page13 sections
History
Dzhumaya Mosque is a functioning Sunni Muslim Friday mosque in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, built as an early Ottoman monument during the fifteenth century, although its exact foundation date remains disputed. The prevailing modern interpretation attributes its foundation to Sultan Murad II, probably around 1433–1436, while another longstanding view connects it with Sultan Murad I, who ruled from 1362 to 1389. Murad II ruled from 1421 to 1451. The mosque stands at the foot of Taksim Tepe and remains under the administration of the Plovdiv mufti office.
Foundation and early urban role
The mosque was first known as Muradiye, after the sultan associated with its financing. It later acquired the name Ulu Dzhumaya, meaning “Main Friday Mosque,” reflecting its position as Plovdiv’s principal mosque for communal Friday worship. The original building inscription has not survived, leaving the foundation date unresolved.
The attribution to Murad II is supported by the seventeenth-century Ottoman historian Abdurrahman Hibri, by the mosque’s financial connections with religious and charitable foundations established by Murad II in Edirne, and by similarities with contemporary mosques in Bursa, Edirne, and Sofia. The attribution to Murad I rests mainly on the seventeenth-century travel account of Evliya Celebi, an Ottoman traveler and writer. If the earlier attribution is correct, the building would belong among the oldest major Ottoman monuments in the Balkans.
A local tradition says that the mosque replaced a Christian church dedicated to Saint Petka of Bulgaria, also known as Paraskeva, a medieval Christian saint venerated in Bulgaria. The church was supposedly built after her relics passed through Plovdiv in 1228. Luben Karavelov, a nineteenth-century Bulgarian writer and activist, recorded the tradition, which remains connected to local legend rather than confirmed archaeological evidence. Work reaching the foundations in 2006–2008 did not substantiate the existence of an earlier building beneath the mosque.
During the fifteenth century, a large bazaar grew around Dzhumaya Mosque, making its surroundings one of Plovdiv’s principal centers of urban life. Commercial buildings included a six-domed covered market, or bezisten, used mainly for selling and storing valuable goods, and the Kurshunli Han inn. The inn suffered severe damage in the 1930 earthquake, after which it and the adjacent market were demolished.
Earthquake damage and Ottoman renewal
An earthquake in the eighteenth century destroyed much of the mosque’s interior and also damaged its original northern entrance porch. Repairs were carried out in 1785 at the request of Sultan Abdülhamid I. Further interior renewal followed in 1817–1818 in the Ottoman Baroque style, an approach that incorporated Baroque-inspired forms into Ottoman architectural and decorative traditions.
In 1868, stone plaques in Ottoman Turkish and Bulgarian were placed on the facade in honor of Sultan Abdülaziz. The plaques commemorated his approval of the conversion of a Plovdiv Bulgarian school into a gymnasium. After 1880, the mosque administration altered the representative northern facade by demolishing its arcaded portico and replacing it with a wooden kiosk containing shops.
Modern protection and restoration
Inadequate maintenance later contributed to the building’s deterioration, and serious cracking appeared in its domes. The upper part of the minaret was damaged by the 1928 earthquake. Dzhumaya Mosque was recognized as a cultural monument of national significance in 1927, and its protected status was reaffirmed in 1995, when its architectural and artistic value was also cited.
Between 2006 and 2008, the entire building underwent major restoration by the construction company Taşyapı with financial support from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The walls and pillars were structurally strengthened, the roof received new cladding, and the damaged upper part of the minaret was reconstructed in its original form. Surviving early painted decoration was restored. The work also removed a prayer basin and adapted the attached wooden kiosk for commercial and institutional uses, including a pastry shop and spaces for the Plovdiv mufti office, as well as a cafe and library.
On 14 February 2014, a crowd attacked the mosque during a street demonstration using stones and fireworks. One police officer was injured and approximately 120 people were detained.
Remains
Layout and construction
Dzhumaya Mosque occupies Plovdiv’s central pedestrian area, west of the old town and beside the area known as Roman Stadium Square. The building measures approximately 40 by 30 metres, while the prayer hall measures about 33 by 27 metres. It is a large, nearly square, three-aisled structure in the early Ottoman style. Its prayer hall is organized around four substantial square columns and covered by nine domes rather than a single dome.
Prayer hall
The central aisle is broader than the two side aisles. Three hemispherical domes rise above the central space on decorative arcades, while barrel vaults cover the side aisles. Together, the four columns divide the interior into nine sectors. The walls use a cellular masonry technique, with two courses of brick alternating with one course of cut stone and vertical bricks inserted between the stone blocks. This method also appeared in earlier Balkan Christian construction and may indicate the participation of local builders or captured Christian craftsmen. Comparable brick-and-stone work occurs at the Green Mosque in Iznik and the Hüdavendigar Mosque in Bursa.
Mihrab and painted decoration
A richly decorated mihrab, the prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca, stands at the center of the wall facing Mecca. Interior paintings from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century contain branches, flowers, garlands, and medallions bearing Quranic extracts. During the 2006–2008 restoration, two later layers of painted decoration were removed. The earliest surviving layer, probably dating from 1785, was uncovered, reconstructed, and restored.
Prayer fountain
A cement prayer fountain installed beneath the central dome in the early twentieth century represented the interior courtyard traditionally associated with mosques. It functioned less as a place for ritual ablution than as a symbolic architectural reference and was removed during the 2006–2008 restoration.
Entrances and exterior features
Northern porch and entrances
The mosque originally had two entrances to the prayer hall. The eastern entrance opened directly into the building, while the northern entrance connected with the market through a portal. The eastern entrance is now blocked. A western doorway was added during repairs in 1784 and 1818, although it is no longer used.
The original northern porch contained five domed bays before the eighteenth-century earthquake destroyed it. A wooden roof replaced the damaged structure, while the original pointed arches remain visible on the vestibule walls. The later two-storey ornamental wooden annex along the northern wall has served various functions, including shops, a cafe or pastry shop, a library, and offices for the Plovdiv mufti.
Minaret
The minaret occupies the northeastern corner and was built with the mosque. Its white plaster surface carries diagonal, diamond-shaped latticework formed by projecting red bricks, and the shaft ends in a conical roof. After the upper section was damaged in the 1928 earthquake, restoration reconstructed it in its original form.
Sundial
A sundial installed at the mosque’s southwestern corner in 1878 forms a later exterior feature of the complex.
