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Level 10

Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

The interior of the mosque with the mihrab - a niche in the wall to show the direction of MeccaThe interior of the mosque with the mihrab - a niche in the wall to show the direction of Mecca

Suleiman (or Soliman) the Magnificent lead several military campaigns against Hungary in the 16th Century - and eventually it was him who conquered about half of the country.

 

His last campaign was in 1566 when he was marching with his army to Szigetvár ("Island Castle" if you wish to force a translation) which is now a small town about 30 kms west from where I live. Though the sultan died during the siege, his generals (the pashas) did not reveal the fact to the sieging army as most probably they would have given the siege up and left for home. Finally the Turks captured the castle and slaughtered all the defenders (lead by Miklós Zrínyi) who - in a suicidal attack - broke out of the remaining castle to meet the sieging enemy on the battle ground. 

 

The Turks always named the first mosque founded in a newly captured town or stronghold after the general (in this case the sultan himself) who lead the campaign - thus the name of the mosque. It is a rather unusual one (never had a dome for example) and by now, surrounded by other buildings so the interior is the most interesting part of it. 

 

Here is the map entry - and along with the map entry, you can see a small virtual tour I made with my Samsung Gear 360 a few weeks ago. On the map on the right, I linked to the castle itself as the mosque is rather new on the map (I added it back then but got accepted only yesterday) and the system will not recognize it automatically. But at least you will see a bunch of interesting photos if you are interested.

 

In the tour (if you "turn around"), you can also see that I did not remember to clean the lens of the camera and my ugly, longish fingerprints are visible unfortunately. I will need to go back and redo the whole tour - but the whole historic complex will be rebuilt (the original shape reconstructed more than it is now) so I will need to redo it anyway. In a few years' time that is...

 

Zrínyi Castle, Szigetvár, Hungary
12 comments
Level 8

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

@Csaba Great. Thanks for the interesting information. I did not know that in Hungary there is this old mosque. Great tour. Thanks for sharing.

Level 10

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

Thanks, @Myrathor. In fact we have a few mosques from the Turkish period. In my city, there are even two of them. One - though reconstructed - now works as a Catholic church: 

https://goo.gl/maps/sWUnLbtuYjt

while the other one (which even has its original minaret) - beside being a museum - also serves as a mosque: 

https://goo.gl/maps/YTfXUYwAEpD2

 

Then recently another one was also reconstructed (and though can be visited as a museum, it also serves as a mosque) in a nearby city: 

https://goo.gl/maps/nDggR5ktaFp

 

They are pretty neat - but on the other hand, the 150-year-long occupation eliminated most of our Medieval churches and only a few remained in smaller villages (that were not important to the Turks). This way, of the Medieval main parish church of our city (that once stood in place of the first mosque above) only this has "remained": 

https://goo.gl/maps/h8ajE4Nn4A72

Level 7

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

Thank you @Csaba I have read a bit about Suleiman while doing some independent research, and I wondered about this mosque.

I appreciate the information and the tour 🙂

Connect Moderator

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

Muy bueno el post @Csaba, el recorrido virtual me encanto, gracias por compartirlo.

 

Saludos Farid.

Level 10

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

Thanks, guys, it's a pleasure... 

 

@MarieP; some further info if you are interested: as Suleiman died, his body was prepared to be taken home, to Constantinople. It was temporarily and partially balmed (so that it could "survive" the long journey) but for this, his heart and organs had to be removed - and buried locally. There had been guesses about the exact place of burial for centuries until last year, the place was actually found and identified by archaeologists. It's here on the maps (no location or point of interest has been added so far as there is actually nothing to see - yet). 

 

Though I have a series of good photos of the excavation, I am not allowed to share them so maybe just a an online article (unfortunately Google Translate does not do a good job with Hungarian). There is the word "türbe" appearing there a lot. It means tomb in Turkish - more exactly a small building that resembles a mosque in its architecture. We have one in town - the tomb of Idris Baba ("Father Idris" - a respected, sacred healing person) so that you have the idea. Of course, Suleiman's tomb was much larger and decorated with marble reliefs and such (as there are fragments).

 

 

Level 7

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

Good morning, @Csaba (the sun just rose here in New York!)

Thank you for the added information and for the online article.

So let me understand clearly. Suleiman was originally buried in a beautifully decorated marble tomb, which was over the centuries destroyed and all traces lost until last year? Do I say this correctly? What a loss. Do you think they will build another tomb as memorial and marker?

Level 7

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

Oh @Csaba I forgot to ask to be certain--the mosque--that is in current use for prayer yes? It is still a practicing active mosque?

Level 8

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

As a part of History we are watching mega serial named Sultan Suleiman in our country right now. I had searched in google dew times about this Magnificent. but right now I know new one that in Hungry the mosque was situated. 😄

nice to know something new. thanks for sharing. 😄 

Level 10

Re: Mosque of Sultan Suleiman (the "Magnificent")

Hi @MarieP

 

Well, basically yes, he (more exactly only his heart and organs) was buried in this newly erected tomb. And it has been lost every since. The wars during the reoccupation of the country (from 1683 to 1699) caused an even bigger destruction than the nearly 150-year-long Turkish rule so no-one really knows what was destroyed and when exactly. 

 

And no, the place is not a working mosque at the moment but might become one as the Turkish government supports the excavations and the reconstructions so eventually it may also become (at least) a "dual purpose" place. Such places are partially covered with carpets where only Muslims can step on bare footed and the "rest" of the mosque can be visited by non-Muslims, too. This photo of the Mosque of Malkoch Bey shows how these spaces are arranged: there are small cordon dividing the room - left of whih is now serves as the sacred place and right of which (the non-carpeted part) as a visitor space. 

 

So who knows what's the final purpose will be. One thing is certain: there are very few Muslims here - definitely not "enough" to maintain many mosques like this. 

 

@YOUSUFMSEDDAT: glad if I could add some info to the series. I do not watch it as though it's on here as well, I do not have a TV. 🙂 

To add some more to the story: Suleiman actually started his reign with a campaign against Hungary (Belgrade, now Serbia). And eventually finished his reign here as well.