Kasım Ağa Mosque

Audio Narration

Construction Year:

1460

Location:

Fatih, İstanbul

Ordered by:

Kasım bin Abdullah, Sekbanbaşı (Head of Sekban Brigade) during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror.

Architects:

Unknown

- Changes after its construction
  •  According to its inscription, the mosque was converted from a Byzantine church whose name
    is not known for sure into a mosque in 1460.
  •  In order to distinguish it from the “Hoca Kasım Günani Mosque” located on Salma Tomruk
    Street nearby, it was also named the “Perakende Kasım Masjid” by the Edirnekapı Finance
    Branch during the Ottoman period.
  •  Its roof, minaret and some walls collapsed in the earthquake of 1894.
  •  It was badly damaged in the Karagümrük fire of 1919 and remained that way until the 1950s.
  •  It underwent extensive restoration in the 1970s with the efforts of the Fatih Ancient Works
    Revival and Protection Association and the neighborhood residents and was opened for worship
    in 1980.
- Prominent features
  •  Also known as “Perakende Kasım Masjid”, the structure was built on the ruins of a Byzantine-
    era structure.
  •  It has a square plan and is made of brick and cut stone.
  •  It is covered with tiles, the roof and ceiling are wooden slatted; the mihrab is marble, and the
    minbar is decorated with tiles on concrete.
  •  Its pulpit is made of concrete and covered with wood.
  •  The groves of the upper gallery, which is concrete, are wooden and can be exited from inside
    the mosque.
  •  The mosque minaret, which is made of limestone and has a single balcony, was built in 1989
    by a benefactor named Hasan Yıldız.