Halil Bey Mosque

Halil Bey Mosque
Halil Bey Mosque
Τζαμί Χαλίλ Μπέη
Religion
Affiliation	Islam (former)
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Mosque (1530–1820s)
Status	Abandoned; (as a mosque); Repurposed; (for cultural use);
Location
Location	Kavala, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
Country	Greece
	Location of the former mosque in Greece
	Interactive map of Halil Bey Mosque
Coordinates	40°55′57.11″N 24°24′54.83″E / 40.9325306°N 24.4152306°E
Architecture
Type	Mosque
Style	Ottoman
Funded by	Halil Bey
Completed	1530s
Specifications
Dome	1
Minarets	1 (destroyed, 1950s)
Materials	Brick; stone

The Halil Bey Mosque (Greek: Τζαμί Χαλίλ Μπέη, from Turkish: Halil Bey Camii) is a former mosque in the town of Kavala, in the Eastern Macedonia and Thrace region of Greece. Built in the 1530s during the Ottoman era, the mosque was abandoned in the 1820s and is now a museum open to visitors.

Overview

The former mosque is located in the center of the small peninsula in the port, near the old fortress. It was probably built c. 1530s, around the same time as the larger Ibrahim Pasha Mosque was built. The mosque was built on top of a Byzantine church dedicated to Saint Paraskevi; the remains of the church are visible through the glass floor of the mosque.^[1] It is most likely that the first church was converted into a mosque, and then later the proper mosque building was built on that site, as was common in the areas the Ottomans conquered.^[2]

After the Balkan Wars, the mosque along with the greater Kavala region became part of the Kingdom of Greece. At the beginning of the 20th century, the mosque functioned as a girls' school. After the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, Halil Bey Mosque and its madrasa (religious school) housed many Greek refugees fleeing Turkey.^[2] In the 1930-1940 period, the mosque housed the municipality's philharmonic orchestra and was thus dubbed the "Mosque of Music". To this day, people of Kavala call it "Old Music [hall]" (Παλιά Μουσική).^[1] The mosque's minaret was torn down in the 1950s.^[2]

After a series of restoration works for both the mosque and the madrasa (but not the minaret), it was opened to the public and is a museum and a venue hall.^[1]^[2] The mosque was part of a wider complex that also included a madrasa which had eight rooms for students and which has also been preserved in good condition.^[1] It is bright red in colour.