Ajdar Kadi mosque, Bitola

elevation / altitude

610 meters

distance

0.61 km from main square / Bitola

  about Ajdar Kadi mosque

The Haydar-Kadi Mosque is situated on the left bank of the river Dragor, in the location of the
former Ovchi bazar, Sheep Market, near Deboj, a Turkish bath from the 17th - 18th century.
Ajdar Kadi mosque was built in 1561-1562, as the project of the famous architect Sinn Mimar, ordered by the Bitola kadija Ajdar-kadu.
The mosque was commissioned by Hayder Beg, the administrator of Rumelia, the largest Turkish administrative territory, with Bitola as a regional centre. According to the inscription in Arabic on the stone plaque above the door, the mosque was built in 969 he (1561/62 AD). The mosque is a domed building with massive walls of about 1,4 meters thick. The surface under the dome is 11x11m. The builders came from a small village in the region of Bitola but the project was most probably prepared by an unknown Islamic architect, influenced by the work of famous architects of that time, such as Kodja Sinan. In the description of Evlia Celebia's travels through the Balkans in the 17th century, this mosque was considered as one of the most beautifully decorated. Study of the remains show that the Haydar-Kadi Mosque was the only mosque in Bitola with two minarets. Marble decorations adorn the mihrab and the triangle-shaped tromps.
The mosque was abandoned and over time, it was heavily damaged, but, the recent restoration and conservation works, have restored, to a certain extent, the original appearance to the mosque.
The mosque was repaired in 1890. We also know that all the mosques of the town were restored before the visit of the Sultan Reshad in 1910, a fact confirmed by certain elements of the interior decoration painted at that time.