More than 100 Muslims prayed at the Yeni Mosque today, which reopened as a place of worship for the first time since 1922, to mark the end of the Ramadan fast. The Ministry of Culture temporarily granted the space to the Ministry of Education, enabling the city’s Muslims to fulfill their religious obligations.
Taha Abdelgalil, the imam of the Athens mosque chosen by the Greek state for this ceremony, recited the prayer in Arabic and delivered the sermon in both Arabic and Greek.
Greece is home to over 375,000 Muslims, the majority of whom, over half to be precise, reside in Attica.
The only operational mosque in Thessaloniki is situated within the Theological School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Additional mosques in Greece can be found in Kos, Rhodes, and Thebes. There are 16 licensed mosques and an estimated 55-60 unofficial ones in Attica. The majority of mosques, over 300, are concentrated in Thrace.
The Yeni Mosque, a significant monument from the Ottoman Empire period in Thessaloniki, was constructed in 1902 and was financed by the city’s Jewish community members who had embraced Islam.
Following the population exchange in 1923, it briefly served as a refuge for displaced individuals. From 1925 to 1962, it functioned as the city’s archaeological museum. Today, the monument occasionally hosts cultural events.
