Neradje Mosque

The Neradje Mosque or Neradjes (Τζαμί Νερατζέ, Narenciye Camii), formerly known as Gazi Hüseyin Pasha Mosque (Gazi Hüseyin Paşa Camii) is a historical Ottoman-era mosque located in the old town of Rethymno, Crete, Greece. It now serves as a music school.

History
The building in the past was a Catholic monastery of the Augustinian Order named Santa Maria. After the conquest of Rethymno by the Ottomans, the monastery was turned into a mosque, which was known as the Mosque of Gazi Hüseyin Pasha or the Neradje Mosque. Following the 1923 population exchange between Turkey and Greece and the departure of the Muslim population of Crete in 1924, the building was turned into a music school.

The minaret was built in 1890, during the last years of Turkish rule in Crete, by the engineer Georgios Daskalakis.

Structure
The building has a rectangular shape and three semicircular domes. It possesses of one minaret which has two balconies, the tallest in the town. The building has Renaissance elements, such as a circular skylight and Renaissance style windows and door. The doorway of the church consists of two semi-columns on each side with Corinthian-style columns and a separate pedestal for each, which support the trigos. Above the door and below the threshold there is an arch, and a large fork in the middle of the bow. Semi-elliptical niches have been opened between the two columns on each side. The composition is believed to be based on the work of Sebastiano Serlio.