Prof. Lyubomir Mikov officially presented his next book – “Mosques in Sofia”

One of the most significant events in this year’s program of “Week of Imams and Mosques” undoubtedly was the presentation of the latest book of Prof. Lyubomir Mikov – “Mosques in Sofia”. It was officially presented on October 24 (Thursday), 2019 in the Club of the Architect in Sofia. Besides the author, in the presentation also officially participated the reviewers Prof. Orlin Sabev from the Institute of Balkan Studies and Center of Thracology at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Dr. Arch. Miryana Yordanova from the Department on Architecture at the New Bulgarian University. Moderator of the event was Dr. Emine Bayraktarova from the Higher Islamic Institute.

The author Prof. Lyubomir Mikov shared that the idea for this research belongs to the Chairman of the Supreme Muslim Council Vedat Ahmed. And the main motive for the book “Mosques in Sofia” is the celebration of the 140 anniversary of the proclamation of Sofia as the capital of Bulgaria.

The subtitle of the book of Prof. Mikov, which is published by Grand Mufti’s Office, is “History, Specifics and Today’s Condition”. Exactly these are the three basic elements on which the entire content is built. In terms of history, the author presents into a harmonious whole the history of the monument and the history of the research related to it. With regard to the specifics, Prof. Mikov introduce to the readership with the specific details and features of the temples, presented on a comparative basis, i.e. compared to other similar monuments on the territory of the country. From the point of view of the today’s condition, the author presents the current information about each of the discussed mosques in Sofia.

“The condition today is the most curious moment. Because I came across to one very strange phenomenon.” – said Prof. Mikov at the event on Thursday evening. He gave as an example “Byuyuk mosque” (“The Grand Mosque”) in Sofia, which was made available to be used by the Archeological Museum in 1905 – a little bit more than a century till nowadays.

“And I am asking myself how so many governments there were in this country and no one of them tried to make a special building for the museum with the richest fund in the state?!” – rhetorically asked the author of the book “Mosques in Sofia”.

“Sofia is famous for its “center of tolerance”. It is one very good example of tolerance and multicultural dialogue. And every research, which is dedicated to this cultural and historical heritage, is significant. The book “Mosques in Sofia” naturally takes place in the series of the researches of Prof. Lyubomir Mikov. After his book “Mosques and Masajid in Bulgaria”, in which he investigates the mosques in our country as a whole, in 2018 was published his book for the mosques in Plovdiv “Dzhumaya Mosque and Imaret Mosque”, which chronologically preceded the mosques in Sofia, because Plovdiv fell earlier under the Ottoman rule.” – said in his speech during the presentation Prof. Orlin Sabev. He wished Prof. Mikov success and also said that he “will be waiting for the next pearl in his crown”.

According to Dr. Arch. Miryana Yordanova, “with this consecutive book Prof. Mikov once again proves that he is an erudite researcher in the field of the Ottoman cultural and architectural heritage and presents to the general public many and also absolutely unknown facts and specifics after decades of researches and collection of a huge archive with hundreds of artifacts.”

Arch. Yordanova urged all who were present to pay attention to the latest work of Prof. Mikov, and not to miss his other researches, representing the architecture of mosques throughout Bulgaria. On behalf of the entire cultural community Yordanova thanked Prof. Mikov for his research.

Prof. Lyubomir Mikov is one of the most erudite and in-depth researchers of the Ottoman architecture in our country. More than 30 years he has been investigating Islam in details, as well as the art and the buildings which remained as an Ottoman heritage in Bulgaria and on the Balkans. He teaches in the “Ottoman Architecture and Related Arts” course in the New Bulgarian University and in the National Academy of Arts. He is an author of dozens of scientific publications and books. The contribution of Prof. Mikov as a researcher is extremely great, because he presents a culture which is little known among the mass reader, which even nowadays is perceived as alien and accepted with hostility in our country. Undoubtedly works such as “Mosques in Sofia” will contribute to overcoming this wrong perception of the Ottoman heritage in Bulgaria.

Prof. Lyubomir Mikov has just recently finished also his latest research, which is dedicated to the Ottoman public drinking fountains. The author addresses in it in details 81 drinking fountains in the period of XV – XIX century. According to Prof. Mikov, the new book will be available on the book market in the beginning of 2020.

Author: L. Chausheva