The Sherif Halil Pasha Mosque, ( ), more commonly known as the Tombul (or Tumbul) Mosque, located in

Shumen Shumen (, also Romanization of Bulgarian, romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city ...

, is the largest mosque in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and one of the largest in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

History

Build between 1740 and 1744, the mosque was initially located in the north-eastern Bulgarian (then Ottoman) town's centre, but is now in Shumen's south-west parts as the town centre moved as a result of the enlargement of the town. The mosque's name comes from the shape of its dome. The mosque and the associated buildings is the largest in Bulgaria. The Tombul Mosque is considered to be a cultural monument of national importance. The building of the mosque was financed by Sheriff Halil Pasha who was born in the village of Madara, 17 km east of Shumen. The mosque's complex consists of a main edifice (a prayer hall), a yard and a twelve-room extension (a

boarding house A boarding house is a house (frequently a family home) in which lodging, lodgers renting, rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, or years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and ...

of the

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

). The main edifice is in its fundamental part a square, then becomes an

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

passing to a circle in the middle part, and is topped by a spherical dome that is 25 m above ground. The interior has mural paintings of vegetable life and geometric figures and inscriptions of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, phrases from the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

. The yard is known for the arches in front of the twelve rooms that surround it and the

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

is 40 m high.

References

Ottoman mosques in Bulgaria Mosque buildings with domes in Bulgaria Tourist attractions in Shumen Province Buildings and structures in Shumen Culture in Shumen Mosques completed in the 1740s 1744 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Religious buildings and structures completed in 1744 Mosque buildings with minarets in Bulgaria {{Europe-mosque-stub

History

See also

References