Description of the attraction
Fatih Mehmed Mosque is an ancient Muslim mosque located in the center of Kyustendil. It is also known as the Shaldyrvan Mosque.
The mosque was built during the period of Ottoman slavery. In captured Bulgaria, the Turkish authorities destroyed Orthodox churches and built (often on the site of destroyed shrines) Muslim mosques. Including the mosque in Kyustendil. It is assumed that the massive structure was erected in the middle of the 15th century. The construction was supervised by the famous architect Kharaji Kara Mehmed bin Ali. On the eastern side of the dome, a more precise date is indicated on the brick - 1531 - this inscription was most likely made during a later reconstruction. The mosque was built of hewn stone blocks and red bricks. The main building has the shape of a quadrangular prism; a dome rises on the roof on an octagonal pedestal. A 37-meter-high tower with a cone-shaped roof is attached to the structure.
The mosque is named after the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, also known as Fatih (Conqueror).
There is evidence that from the 15th to the 18th century, there were 14 mosques in Kyustendil. After the Liberation, many of them were destroyed or abandoned. The Fatih Mehmed Mosque, despite the fact that it has been inactive for a long time, has survived to this day. This is a valuable work of art that has the status of a monument of national importance.
