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information guide about Athens, Greece
Churches in Athens
Tsisdarakis Mosque
According to an inscription over the entrance of the mosque, Mustafa
Aga Tsisdarakis, an Ottoman official in Athens, founded it in
1759. According to legend, in order to build the mosque, a column
from the Olympeion was burned to get the necessary lime. Later
on, the mosque also became known by other names such as the “Mosque
of the Lower Fountain” from the fountain that used to be
in the building, “Mosque of the Lower Market” and
“Mosque in Monastiraki Square”.
After
the Ottoman rule, the mosque’s minaret was destroyed. With
the foundation of the Greek State, when all the Ottoman public
buildings were used by the State, the mosque was given to the
army. In 1843 it was used as a guardhouse, later as a prison,
a military camp and a warehouse. The mosque was restored to its
original form by Anastassios Orlandos in 1915. Three years later,
the building housed the new “Museum of Greek Handicrafts”
and in 1923 it was named “National Museum of Decorative
Arts". Finally it received its present name, “Museum
of Greek Folk Art” in 1959.
In
1973 the museum was transferred to another location and the mosque
was used as an auxiliary building which housed the exhibition
of the ceramics collection from 1975 on. The destructive earthquake
of 1981 caused serious damage to the mosque. In 1991, after repairs,
the mosque operated again as a branch of the museum and the ceramics
collection was enriched with additions from the Centre for the
Study of Traditional Pottery.