Restored Ottoman-Era Mosque in Athens Opens to the Public

Featuring a central dome with a porch supported by five arches, each crowned with smaller domes, the mosque was known during Ottoman times as the ‘Wheat market Mosque’, due to its location near the grain cellars. Converted into a Catholic church by the Venetians during the short-termed occupation of Venetian forces from 1687-88, the mosque was later used as a school in 1824, at the end of the War of Independence, when the minaret was destroyed.

Then from 1834 until the 20th century, the mosque served as a barracks, a military prison and as a military bakery before being re-purposed as a storage place where findings from excavations in the Agora and the Acropolis were stored.

Since the structure had never been completely renovated, besides the removal of the most recent additions in the 20th, the Greek authorities ordered for its complete restoration in 2010. Now completed, the mosque is finally open to the public as a cultural venue.

Its premiere offering is a photography exhibition curated by the Athens Ephorate of Antiquities, depicting the several restoration and redevelopment works done to several Athenian monuments, including the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the asklepieion in the southern side of the Acropolis Hill as well as several Byzantine churches. The next scheduled event will be an exhibition on Hadrian, the Roman emperor.

The mosque’s opening hours are the same as the Roman Agora (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.), although in times of extreme heat (above 39° C), the site closes at 1:00 p.m. to reopen from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m.