Description of the attraction
The oldest building in Edirne and at the same time its main attraction can be called Eski Jami or as it is also called the Old Mosque. It is located slightly below the Selimiye Mosque and at first glance looks like a very strange building (at first it resembles something agricultural). This landmark deserves to be admired for its impressive marble entrance and beautiful fountains. The construction of this mosque, located on Khuriyet Square, began in 1403, by order of Emir Suleiman elebi and was completed in 1414 during the reign of his son, Sultan Mehmed elebi (elebi means "challenger").
Eski Jami was built in the style traditional for early Ottoman architecture under the direction of the architect Hadji Alladin from Konya from hewn limestone, in places complemented by alternating layers of stone and brick, characteristic of ancient architecture.
In its appearance, the mosque resembles the architecture of Bursa. The building is crowned with nine semicircular domes. Oddly enough, only one of the domes has a light window. Opposite the mosque there is a 14-domed covered market (bedstin), built of processed red and white stone in 1417-1418 by the same architect.
The mosque has two adjacent minarets. It is a square building with four columns and was erected on the model and likeness of the Byzantine church. Behind the mosque there are two gravestone pedestals: one small - near the grave of the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid II (1481-1512), who was overthrown from the throne by the youngest son Selim I the Terrible (1512-1520), famous for his cruelty in the Ottoman Empire. Another monument, revered by the people as a shrine to this day, is dedicated to Mehmed Bey.
The interior of the mosque combines floral vignettes and Arabic inscriptions, a stunning combination of red and white vaults, which are, as it were, applied over everything with a brush and ink. Its columns are clearly of ancient Roman origin. Most likely, at this place once upon a time there was some ancient structure, partially destroyed later. Some of the surviving elements of this building are an organic part of Eski Jami.
On the front wall of the mosque there is an "Ottoman swan" - a symbol of faith, next to which there is an inscription: "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet!"
