Places of worship from the Ottoman Period in Timișoara, Romania

Abstract

This paper deals with Muslim places of worship and their evolution during the 164 years of Ottoman rule in Timișoara (1552–1716). The analysis was carried out on the basis of written historical documentation and archaeological results. It is about religious structures such as mosques (câmii) and other places of worship (mescid), but also about monastic centres of dervishes (tekke, zâviye and türbe). The archaeological research that took place in the last decade in Timișoara offered the chance to bring to light the foundations of three mosques: Ali Bey, Cimcime and Sultan Süleyman. The results of these researches are valuable, especially since no building in Timișoara dating from the Ottoman Period has survived. From an archaeological point of view, it was found that only two of the mosques share similar characteristics. Although at all three of them wooden posts were found at the bottom of the foundation ditch, beaten into the ground, the differences were in the techniques of the foundation construction. At two of the foundation walls, was discovered a reinforcement of wooden beams, fixed with iron nails, over which a mixture of mortar with stone and broken brick was placed. At the third foundation wall, a similar mixture was framed by a row of bricks laid on the edge of the foundation ditch. Moreover, two of the mosques were built according to a rectangular plan, and in the third plan the north side was closed with an apse. Archaeological research also indicated a possible minaret, mihrab, but also parts of the floor of one of the mosques.