Culture Minister Lina Mendoni conducted an autopsy on the mosqued Hamza Bey, known as Alcazar, in Thessaloniki. The work of restoring the monument has been undertaken by the Ministry of Culture, with funding of approximately € 11,000,000, From resources of the recovery fund, the Restoration of Byzantine and Post -Byzantine Monuments In collaboration with the Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thessaloniki. The Minister was briefed by the relevant Ministry of Culture and the contractor about the evolution of its implementation, extremely complex and demanding project, as the morphology of the monument has undergone significant alterations due to many interventions in various historical periods.
Following the autopsy on the project, Lina Mendoni said: “In the last six years we have been implementing a program of works and actions in Thessaloniki that exceeds 100,000,000 euros, from Community and national resources. This is presumed The importance we attach to the monuments and the long history of Thessaloniki, which are gradually attributed to the citizens, preserved and lifted, offering a completely different image of the city.
The Hamza Bey mosque, in the city center, at the intersection of Egnatia and Venizelos streets, in immediate proximity to the northern entrance of the Metropolitan Railway Station, is the oldest Islamic House in Thessaloniki. It was built in 1467 by the daughter of military commander Hamza Bey. Later, in the perittle courtyard of the mosque, the Alcazar Cinema, whose name prevailed in collective memory, worked for decades. The Mosque is protected under archaeological law, as a historical and archaeological monument, since 1926. The restoration of Alcazar, evolves according to the timetable.
Its restoration will give the city yet another iconic monument. Our goal is to complete the project and the performance of the monument in the city, Within the first half of 2026. The Ministry of Culture restoring the monumental wealth of Thessaloniki contributes decisively not only to the upgrading of the city’s image, but also to its cultural function and economic development. “
The project is evolving smoothly and intensively after completing the infrastructure for constructive development. Exterior mosque on the north and west sides have developed work scaffolding. Internal existing columns were checked and supplemented in places with new provisionswhile around the inner side of the masonry, appropriate scaffolding provisions were installed to perform the projected work at all levels in height ensuring access to the dome level.
Preventive fastening of the interior decoration of the mosque is under way by specialized conservative workshops, as well as the partial secondment of the marble plates of the floor in the patio. The exterior masonry of the monument is carried out by the mourning of loose joints and coatings and the execution of samples of new compatible mortars.
The square, in a plan in view of the mosque’s prayer, has an internal dimensions of 11.54×11.54m and a maximum height of 17m. It added apartments, on the northeast and southwest and eccentric, on the northwestern side and western corner, which are a single perstal surrounding the mosque in the shape of a P. The apartments of the Peristos develop parallel to the side walls of the main mosque. The peristo is composed of an open colonnade (Revak) in the west, with side closed apartments, north and south.
The patio has a table plan view, and its galleries are defined by colonnades. The mosque consists of three distinct modules corresponding to three consecutive chronological phases: the prayer room, the peristo and the patio.
Her Lina Mendoni The Head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thessaloniki Elizabeth Tsigarida, the Head of the Department of the Department of the Department of Restoration of Byzantine and Post -Byzantine Monuments Efi Chorafa, as well as the Department of Company, as well as the Department of Projects, were accompanied by the Head of the Department of Antiquities of Thessaloniki.