site.bta400-Year-Old Ibrahim Pasha Mosque to Be Restored

Over 860,000 leva have been allocated for the repair and reconstruction of the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Razgrad (Northeastern Bulgaria). The funding will help to finish the restoration and conservation of the mosque, Razgrad Regional Governor Deyan Dimitrov told a news conference in late March.

Dimitrov explained that repair works had been suspended for two months due to specific technological requirements. During this time scaffolding was put up inside the mosque and now the restoration works can continue, he added.

The repair and restoration of the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque began in October 2020 and is expected to end in 2023. The current project envisages conservation, restoration and adaptation of the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque. It is worth over 2 million leva provided from the state budget.

The Ibrahim Pasha Mosque is the third largest in the Balkan Peninsula and the second largest in Bulgaria. Well-known to experts, locals and tourists, often cited as one of the most impressive examples of classical Ottoman architecture, the mosque has had the status of a monument of national significance since 1971.

Due to organizational problems, red tape and mismanagement, the house of worship has fallen into disrepair.

The mosque was neglected for over 30 years. Not only has it been out of service, the very structure of the building badly needs special care. Back in 2015, Bulgarian media called the public's attention to the derelict state of the monument, with pigeons hiding inside the building, saplings and bushes growing on its roof, and the wind blowing through broken windows against the rich original wall paintings.

The mosque is impressive in shape and size. It is a single-domed stone structure. Built on a square base, the lower part forms a cube, evolving into an octagon, and then into a cylinder. Four turrets serve as buttresses - providing exterior support to resist the sideways force created by the weight of the roof. But this role is hidden by their outer shape, making them look simply like adornments to the solemn silhouette of the building

All facades end with a common delicate cornice. There are 45 windows on the four facades and many little birdhouses (arched holes), typical of such buildings.

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Today's Ibrahim Pasha Mosque is not the original edifice. The story of the mosque abounds in legends and misinterpretations. 

The mosque is widely believed to have been built in 1533 by Pargali Ibrahim Pasha [Pargali meaning ‘of Parga’]. (c. 1495 - 15 March 1536), also known as Frenk ("the Westerner"), Makbul ("the Favorite"), and later Maktul ("the Executed") Ibrahim Pasha. Born to Orthodox Christian parents (Parga, Epirus, was then part of the Republic of Venice), he was captured in a raid by the Ottoman governor of Bosnia and was made a slave. His ethnicity is unknown. It is assumed that he originally spoke a Slavic dialect, with Greek and Albanian into the bargain. Contemporary historians contest the story that the woman Ibrahim married was Hatice Sultan, Sultan Suleiman's sister. He was married to Muhsine Hatun (the granddaughter of the selfsame Ottoman governor of Bosnia, Iskender Pasha, who had captured him more than two decades earlier). Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent appointed Ibrahim Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. Ibrahim Pasha made a meteoric career, attaining a great influence, but was executed on Suleiman's orders. 

Whatever the personal role of Ibrahim Pasha, it is known that in 1533 a mosque in Razgrad already existed. It seems that it was part of a larger complex that included a Medrese-style school, as well as a caravansarai. Most likely such a complex, or part of it was initially a waqf (i.e., a charitable endowment). 

The mosque seems to have been quite functional, although it was left unfinished after Ibrahim Pasha's death in 1536. For an unknown reason, it was demolished around 1600-1610. An earthquake seems a plausible explanation. Quakes were dangerous to such constructions, especially to minarets. (Knowing this, Ottoman architects had some of the stones attached with metal clamps and soldered with lead.)  

Restoration plans and procedures after granting the mosque the status of a monument of national significance necessitated an archaeological study - and the remnants of the original mosque were found during excavations in 1986. 

The new mosque was completed by Mahmud Pasha in 1616-1617. A plaque on the facade says: "This mosque was built in 1616 by Bulgarian craftsmen from the village of Poroishte". (It is believed that Poroishte was founded by Orthodox Albanians who moved there in the first half of the 16th century.) 

Eighty years after the death of Ibrahim Pasha, the new mosque was named after him. This fact gives rise to speculation that the land on which the mosque was built belonged to Ibrahim Pasha.