Kursum Mosque, Kastoria

The Kursum Mosque (Κουρσούμ Τζαμί, Kurşunlu Camii ) is a historical Ottoman-era mosque in the town of Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece. The mosque is located close to the old centre of town, on Mitropoleos Street.

History
Kursum Mosque, named for its lead roof, was the most prominent mosque of Kastoria. The dating for its construction following the Ottoman conquest is either the fifteenth or sixteenth century. Tsamisis and Moutsopoulos wrote it was built on the site of a previous Byzantine church, which in turn was erected on the site of an ancient pagan temple. A turbe or burial monument located within Kursum Mosque's courtyard had four brick walls and arches enclosed by a dome. Under the Ottomans, the mosque functioned as a place of worship for several centuries until Kastoria was annexed by Greece. The last imam sold the mosque prior to the departure of the town's Muslim population.

In 1925 the mosque was declared a preserved monument by Greece. Kastoria municipality attempted in 1935 to get a permit and demolish the mosque for aesthetic reasons. The move was opposed by the local curator and the Ministry of Education, and instead only the mosque portico and nearby turbe was demolished. Unlike several other Ottoman mosques in Kastoria, Kursum mosque was spared destruction due to continuous use. Under Greece, the mosque was initially used as a library, later a museum and its most recent use as an antiquities warehouse, closed to the public.

Kursum Mosque is the only surviving mosque in Kastoria in a moderate state of preservation. Most of the external rendering on the walls has fallen off and the mosque has sustained some damage. Left unattended over the years, the mosque is at risk of collapse. Only the lower half of the minaret remains, and the mosque dome is externally covered with plant overgrowth. Internally, the building has good acoustic properties.

In the mid 2010s, interest in the mosque was revived when several students from the Polytechnic School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki selected the mosque for their postgraduate studies. Their work, part of the interdepartmental postgraduate program "Protection, maintenance and restoration of cultural monuments", a government initiative, documented the mosque's history and gave suggestions for future uses. The students presence was controversial, as part of the Kastoria municipal council opposed funding their accommodation. Reasons given were a Muslim community was absent in modern Kastoria and opposition toward mosque restorations in Greece while there were discussions in Turkey over converting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. These efforts led to the Kastoria antiquity authority, in cooperation with the Greek Culture Ministry to set aside funds for further study toward restoration and maintenance works.

Later, one million euros were allocated from the Recovery and Resilience Fund toward restoring the mosque. In September 2022 work began by removing soil in and around the mosque and strengthening the building's foundation. During the excavation, the foundations of an older medieval Byzantine basilica and 25 medieval burials containing 47 individuals were uncovered. Other artifacts uncovered were copper coins, metal buttons, glass and clothing fragments. Although yet undetermined, Tsamisis and Orlando have said the basilica could have been dedicated to either Panagia (Mary, mother of Jesus) or Saint Paraskevi. The three aisled basilica was converted into a cemetery in the thirteenth century. After the fifteenth century Ottoman conquest, the mosque was built atop the basilica foundations and building material from the church was used for the new structure. Restoration works are set to conclude in 2025, with the mosque coming under Kastoria's jurisdiction for public use and cultural events.