The Ministry of Culture, in response to a persistent request from the local community, is launching the restoration of the Ottoman Yeni Mosque, in the urban core of Edessa, in Museum Square, after the completion of the architecture, static and electromechanical application study for the restoration and promotion of the monument . The Jeni Mosque is the only one of the nine Muslim mosques that existed in the city of Edessa. Its construction is preserved almost intact, while it is one of the few mosques in the wider Greek area, without religious use, that maintains the minaret in its entirety. Its foundation can be traced back, with enough security, to the first half of the 17th century.

In 1912 it was already functioning as a prison. In 1924 it came under the ownership of the Exchangeable Muslim Estates Administration Service. In 1937 it was declared a preserved monument. Its current image is the result of interventions in the 19th century.

The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, stated: “The restoration and promotion of the Ottoman Yeni Mosque with the aim of its reuse and the shaping of its surrounding area, based on an architectural study that has incorporated the observations of the Central Archaeological Council, is part of the interventions of the Ministry of Culture in the capital of Pella, with a focus on the protection and promotion of the city’s monuments related to the Ottoman period. The competent services of the Ministry of Culture are working closely with the local bodies to complete the restoration work, so that the Yeni Mosque can be functionally integrated into the cultural life of the city, simultaneously enhancing its monumental wealth. Edessa combines cultural resources of all periods and a natural environment that give it the conditions to emerge as a highly visited destination.”

Geni Mosque in Edessa

The Yeni Mosque belongs to the most widespread type of Ottoman mosques, with a square prayer room, a colonnaded open portico (revak), a minaret that sits on a rectangular base in the outer western corner of the main building. The decoration of the prayer room is pictorial and develops on all the surfaces of the masonry and the dome. The elongated, open portico is formed by four columns, which support seven arches carrying three small domes. The minaret consists of a base that evolves into a rounded polyprismatic pyramid, 3.40 meters high, and a cylindrical trunk, 11.45 meters high, up to the top, and a smaller diameter cylindrical section. The decoration of the dome is kept in moderate condition. Significant moisture and vegetation growth problems are observed due to insufficient waterproofing. In the upper part, above the exterior of the minaret, there is a failure of the masonry with the manifestation of through vertical cracking of considerable width as well as significant disruption of the masonry of the conical end of the minaret. Vertical cracks are also observed in zones of openings in all the perimeter walls of the mosque, both externally and internally, as well as cracks in the columns of the porch.

The static study proposes the maintenance and restoration of the roof, the restoration of the flywheel columns of the facade, the reconstruction-stitching of the cracks, the restoration – reinforcement of the minaret, the construction of a perimeter drainage system. The architectural study, with regard to the mosque, includes, among other things, proposals for operations concerning the careful removal of the Byzantine roof tiles, in order to reinstall those that are in good condition, the sanitization of the domes with attention to the interior mural decoration, the restoration of the conical end of the minaret, removing the flimsy and modern joints and replacing them with new ones, made of compatible materials.

The studies of electromechanical installations include those of lighting to highlight the exterior and interior of the mosque, electrical installation, air conditioning, drainage and water supply, fire protection measures, lightning protection system study.