The Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Mosque, also called the Bayezid Mosque, stands in Didymoteicho in northeastern Greece. Construction began under Sultan Bayezid I, was interrupted after the Battle of Ankara, and resumed under Mehmed I. It was inaugurated in March 1420. The architect was Ivaz ibn Bayezid, and the local qadi, Seyid Ali, supervised the work.
The Ottoman building has a square plan of about 98 to 105 feet (30 to 32 meters) per side, with limestone ashlar walls roughly 7 to 9 feet (2.2 to 2.7 meters) thick. Four piers divide the interior. A lead-covered wooden pyramidal roof replaced the planned domes, and an expert called the early fifteenth-century oak roof one of the most important wooden monuments in the world.
A fire during restoration on March 22, 2017 destroyed the entire roof. It is no longer used as a mosque and is partially restored.
Comments