The story of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Lüleburgaz

During the Balkan Wars, this Ottoman mosque in Lüleburgaz briefly became a church. The occupying Bulgarian army tore its minaret down to the base, added a wooden bell tower and converted the building; after the occupation it became a mosque again, and the minaret was repaired in 1934. The mosque was commissioned by the grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan.

The inscription above its door dates it to 1569 or 1570 and shows it was planned as part of a waystation complex: an arasta of fifty-nine shops with a prayer dome, a medrese and primary school, a caravanserai, a soup kitchen, a guesthouse and a double bath. The traveller Evliya Çelebi mentioned the mosque when he visited Lüleburgaz.

The soup kitchen and caravanserai were demolished in 1935 by the mayor of the time. As you reach the door, look up at that inscription.