First Lady of Austria visited “Banya Basi” Mosque

The First lady of the Republic of Austria Margit Fischer visited the mosque “Banya Bashi”. The Austrian president Heinz Fisher is on an official visit in the country accompanied by his wife Margit Fischer. The cultural program, prepared by the Protocol of the Bulgarian Head of the state for the Austrian First Lady, included a visit in the so called quadrangle of tolerance. These are the church St. Nedelya, the mosque Banya Bashi, the synagogue and the Catholic church in the center of the capital.

Ms. Fischer was welcomed in the capital’s mosque by Ahmed Ahmedov, Secretary General of the Grand Mufti’s Office, who informed the guest about some cultural and historical facts related to the originality of the temple.

Banya Bashi was built on the initiative and with financial support of the benefactor mullah Efendi Kadı Seyfullah. That is why in some sources it is mentioned also with the name the mosque “Mullah Effendi” or as “Kadı Seyfullah”. On the arch above the door there is a text written by paint on a stone which cannot be deciphered. Under it the date 974 could be seen, which gives a grounds to be assumed that it was built in 974 Hijri year (Islamic calendar), or year 1566-1567.

The main building of the mosque is quadrangular. Among the four corner domes raises the central dome and the minaret. In its front part there is one small extension (tetimme) with three small domes. It was built in the memory of the deceased wife of Efendi Kadı Seyfullah.