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Fethiye Mosque

The Fethiye Mosque stands within the Roman Agora, near the Tower of the Winds. The site previously held a Christian basilica from the middle Byzantine period, of the eighth or ninth century, which became a mosque around 1456-1458; the present building was constructed between 1668 and 1670, after the Ottoman conquest of Crete. It has a portico of five arches, each crowned by a small dome, and a large rectangular hall with a central dome on four pillars, flanked by semi-domes and smaller domes at the corners. The minaret has disappeared. In 1687-1688, during the brief Venetian occupation, it was a Catholic church; after independence it was used as a barracks, a military prison and an army bakery, and at the beginning of the twentieth century it stored finds from the Agora and the Acropolis. It was restored and reopened to the public in 2017 as a cultural centre with exhibitions. Only a fragment of the original mihrab survives.

Things to do at Fethiye Mosque: 3 missions

• Look for the fragment of the original mihrabIf the interior is open during an event, find the only surviving piece of the old mihrab.
• Find the central dome and the semi-domesFind a spot in the Agora from which you can see the large dome and the semi-domes that flank it. The minaret no longer exists.
• Count the five arches of the porticoWalk round the mosque through the Roman Agora site and look for the portico: each of its five arches carries a small dome.

Near Fethiye Mosque

Source: Wikipedia - Fethiye Mosque