Description of the attraction
Tsisdaraki Mosque is located in the very center of Athens in the oldest district of Plaka on Monastyraki Square. It is an 18th century Ottoman mosque that today functions as a museum.
In the middle of the 18th century, Mustafa Tsisdaraki was the governor of Athens, and he built this mosque in 1759 (as the inscription on the mosque says). The Athenians considered the mosque a cursed place and blamed the outbreak of famine. The reason for this was General Tsisdaraki. For the construction of the mosque, he used several columns from the temple of Olympian Zeus, obtained by a barbaric method. Since he did this without the permission of the Sultan, he was fined and expelled from the post of governor. After the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821, the minaret of the mosque was destroyed.
After gaining independence, the building of the mosque was transferred to the army. In those years, the mosque was used as a prison, barracks and warehouse. In 1915, the mosque was restored to its original form. In 1918, it housed the Museum of Greek Handicrafts, which was renamed in 1923 as the National Museum of Decorative Arts. In 1959, the museum was renamed the Museum of Greek Folk Art again. In 1973, the main collection and main funds of the museum were transferred to a new building located in the oldest district of Athens, Plaka, along Kidatinéon Street. In the Tsisdaraki Mosque, a branch of the museum remains, which displays a collection of Kyriazopoulos' pottery folk art.
In 1981, as a result of an earthquake, the building of the mosque was badly damaged, but in 1991, after renovation, the museum was reopened.
