Cultural Corridors of South East Europe

Cultural Corridor Eastern Trans-Balkan Road / Eastern Trans-Balkan Road

Ibrahim Pasa mosque

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Ibrahim Pasa mosque

About the site


Corridor: Danube Road, Eastern Trans-Balkan Road
Country: Bulgaria, Razgrad
Type: Islamic religious centre
Epoch: Middle Ages
Theme: Islamic Culture
World Heritage:
Middle AgesIslamic CultureIslamic religious centre

The mosque bears the name of the donor who ordered its construction – Ibrahim Pasha, grand vizier of the Sultan Suleyman I the Great during the period 1523-1536. It is the third biggest on the Balkan peninsula and the only monument of that period preserved in Razgrad – a big and important town in the Ottoman empire. The scientific survey proved that the foundations of the mosque are built over the roof of a much older regular tetragon building.
The mosque was constructed by Bulgarian builders, who interpreted with mastery and taste the typical characteristics of the type of building of that period. The roof is covered with lead, while above the entrance there is a marble memorial plaque: “Sons! Here is the well-built sacred mosque “Ibrahim pasha”.
There is a legend preserved until present times telling that Ibrahim Pasha ordered the killing of the master builders after the end of the mosque construction, so that his mosque could remain unique, unsurpassed in beauty.

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