The Forgotten Mosques of Greece

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forestjungleco...
An exploration of various Ottoman sites around Greece and why there's so little left from this recent past

[@P4ti68]

Thank you so much for this video. It’s my first visit to Greece but want to explore further regions now that I know more about this hidden history.

[@Bosniak803]

I'm interesting to visit "Yeny Djami/New Mosque" in Thesaloniki ... Today is Archeological Museum

[@mohammadyasinsaudagar5979]

In greece All mosqug is very beutiful ,❤ from INDIA 👍💐💐💐

[@AbdulAlvi-c5i]

Thanks for sharing historical places.

[@fidaee19]

Dear Forest Archaic Collective, Thank you for making this video! I'm a huge fan of Ottoman history and this video was amazingly and beautifully done! I loved all the research and work that went into making this video, as well as the amazing visuals and cinematography taken for this video. I especially loved the music that was chosen for this video. I felt that the music choice matched the subject and content perfectly. I'm appalled by some of the comments made in the comment section of this video. What surprises me most are the nature of the comments despite your request in the introduction of the video asking not to post comments of such nature. Truly, you have done an amazing job in making and doing the research and taking the shots for this video. You have earned a subscriber. Peace be upon you!

[@ForestArchaicCollective]

hey - glad you enjoyed it! & thks!

[@KhalidMughalGR]

Excellent work !! Yeni mosque Thessaloniki and suleman mosque of Rhodes will be open (only) for the Eid UL Fitar prayer on April 10, 2024.

[@FREE_HUMANITY]

Thanks for the contents, please do me favour and don't use background music. Your voice is just perfect! 😂

[@hamdansharif1531]

Beautiful mosque from Greece

[@aasifazimabadi786]

Even if you anger some Christian ultranationalists, whether Hellenic or in the Balkans, you have earned the gratitude - whether you intended it or not - of Muslims like myself. I live in the U.S., but when I go to Greece someday Inshallah (God willing), I would like to add some of these beautiful masajid to the Parthenon et al. Thank you.

[@alaahamza62]

Thank you for documenting this. I don't like it when people demolish, deny, or fail to mention a significant era in their nation's history, even if it was a dark period. We should preserve what was built, the great monuments, and the contributions they made to our culture. There's no way they didn't leave behind some distinguished aspects that remain part of our daily lives. In Lebanon, the Ottoman Empire was here for 400 years. It was a difficult era of rule by force, even for us as Muslims, as they tried to suppress our identity. However, we cannot deny that they were here, and nothing will change that history.

[@valmirasherifi7177]

beautifull architecture, i think thouse should be exposed because are part of the history by exploring them we get to know oure history thank you for the beutiful video

[@ForestArchaicCollective]

my thoughts exactly! thks

[@dimitrirafidov8829]

Thank you for making this video. It brings back memories. We were in Greece for family holiday in 2017, Athens and Rhode Island. During Acropolis Museum visit, we learnt Acropolis was once a Mosque too. We went to Rhode Island to trace one of the 7 wonders of the world and we discovered there's about 12 mosques in the Island many are in the Old Town. Rhodes was the Ottoman gateway to expansion. They were there hundreds of year with madrasahs(school) and university. The Suleymaniye Mosque (Rhodes) is at the best state. Sad it was not opened for visiting. Afew other mosque were also close and locked and one was under renovation.

[@ForestArchaicCollective]

Yes, as you may have spotted, Rhodes is a big gap in our current list, in fact the whole Dodecanese is regretfully absent from our camera roll 🙁 one day!

[@kieranhenn793]

Really interesting and insightful!

[@apostolispouliakis7401]

What you have to try to understand is that the rule of the Ottomans is not only seen as bad due to the foreign domination but also the backwardness that it brought to the country which in many ways set it back hundreds of years from Western Europeans contemporaries. When Byzantium fell it wasn't some random kingdom or state but a very sophisticated one whose end by the hands of the Ottomans and their influence effectively "primitivized" the entire region. So everything from the Ottoman era is not only seen as a symbol of tyranny and foreign domination but also because it set back the country a few centuries compared to the rest of Europe.

[@ForestArchaicCollective]

yh, def aware that on top of any oppression, the country entered the 19th century pretty impoverished. The Ottomans weren't exactly in a hurry to invest in the provinces

[@mikel3359]

Exactly

[@batalay]

Most assuredly a well worn lie! Practically all the investment in educational changes and industrial development were made in Thrace and around Istanbul. For hundreds of years both the Turks and other millets were burdened by the tax collectors who were primarily Phanariote Greeks from Phanar district of Istanbul. Phanariote Greeks were the closest to the Ottomans and ruled the millets with an iron fist. It is a categoricly false that that Greeks of the empire were particularly impoverished. On the contrary, Turks were expected to farm and provide soldiers for the empire while Christian millets benefitted from the trade.

[@stelios5314]

@@batalay It depends of what time we are talking about, and about which region. Devshirme (taking boys from their families by force) is one of the very bad practices of the Ottomans...

[@batalay]

@@stelios5314 Devshirme system had not been used from around mid 16th century onwards. Therefore, the entire body of endemic "fake-news" about forcibly removing Christian children, etc. well into 19th century is patently false. Even more importantly, there are plenty of evidence present that Christian families of the Balkans and elsewhere were more than willing to enlist their children to have access to upward mobility, training and a retirement pensions that were unheard of in Europe. These sorts of lies are introduced by the Christian clergy and their early victorian western colonist sponsors in 19th century to create the grounds for collapse of the Ottoman Empire to pick the riches of the countries within it.

[@Anwari_khatun]

I love greec muslim❤🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

[@RovexHD]

I remember in Thessaloniki a Synagogue of interest, looked very similar to the mosques shown, wonder what the history of the building is.

[@MassiveHorses]

Cool and informative video that is also very nice !

[@fensterheim]

Thank you for the great video. What I can make out of the inscription on the Tomb Stone in Thessaloniki: Star of david and plants on top. The year at the bottom seems to be התפ"א which is 1721. The last word on the top line looks like הנעים which means 'the pleasant'. The third line is the name: 'Jacob son of Rabbi Samuel'. 4th line is partly covered but seems to say 'according to his wish'. The 5th line is the date: 'of the month of Tishray' (around September).

[@ForestArchaicCollective]

Thats amazing! Thankyou

[@07heavens54]

It's good to be able to read this tombstone, but can you tell us a little more about the state of the Churches in occupied territory? at least those that have not been transformed into animal stables

[@fouadmas5413]

Wow, I thought the "first" mosque in Greece was opened only a few years ago. Thank you for bringing up this hidden history to some light

[@thebalkanhistorian.3205]

All the other ones were build by the occupiers or great churches made into mosques

[@collnorway]

Thanks for the video, I liked it 🧿❤

[@Basil_o_brouzos]

There is also a mosque in chalkida

[@ForestArchaicCollective]

Yes! I caught that while i was there - beautifully well preserved although the razor wire round the back was rather telling :/ I was fortunate to have dropped in the Karababa Castle museum first as it gives you a great picture of the city in Medieval times but walking round Chalkida its amazing the amount thats been lost! For a city so rich in churches and with huge walls that you can see in paintings & etchings from the time its ...haunting how little remains now

[@Basil_o_brouzos]

@ForestArchaicCollective Yes I resently found out about all the monuments that have been lost and I have lived there my whole life and never knew about them

[@MaulanaSalahudinChan-ik9gp]

Assalamualaikumwarokhmatullohiwabarokaatuh , He wasn't Ottoman Persons or He wasn't Turk Moslem . But He was Origin Greece Man . His GOD Self Told His missions in Al Kahf 83 - 99 . Now , Whynot did Origin Greece Populations build Their Mosques selves ? . Do you know ' Ka'bah ' ? . What is ' It ' ? . Be explain to me quictly , pleaae .. . Yes , GOD Of Ka'bah Self Told Greece Primitive Caesar missions . Be discuss ' It ' with Kings / Queens / Presidents in The World it's Majorities Moslems States , p . Or you ask to King of Saudi Arrabiyyah . Bravo...

[@idreessahadat3002]

Go brave scholar.

[@nasseralismaily8762]

nice

[@wardafournello]

Ottoman architecture? What do you mean? All the architectural elements are Byzantine, except for the minaret and the arched gates, which are Arab-Persian. The Turks were nomadic peoples, they simply converted to Islam and copied what they found ready.

[@ForestArchaicCollective]

just because something is derivative doesn't proclude it from being distinct, architects have done little else but steal from each other for millenia

[@wardafournello]

@@ForestArchaicCollective There are specific characteristics that define an architectural style. There is no Ottoman architecture. However, a Turkish architecture has been invented, see Erdoğan's palace.

[@olbiomoiros]

NB: Athens was a village prior to 1834

[@ionidhunedoara1491]

Logic vs. filotimo guess who wins.?

[@abdullahozek8016]

Thank you for bringing this islamic history into light. I love the brick red roof tiles covering the Domes of the Mosques there in Greece They look pleasant You have really done a good job by spotting all these amazing structures and identifying them Well done ! I am very pleased I am a devout Muslim and an expert in the Islamic theology I have really done my Islamic studies when I was in London , UK and research Then I have travelled to the Middle East and Turkey But I couldn't really find people who have commitment to islam Only the regular congregation coming to Mosques for prayers only and following the State sponsored religious authority and they are not really committed for islam I mean for life Rather they would go out and do not what islam tell them to do in day to day living but would do what their secular authorities tell them to do , so I could see the hypocrisy and I distanced myself from them and I tried to find a building preferably an old Mosque where I taught I could preach islam to committed believers so they could understand the difference and then guide them to the deeds of righteousness that their Lord tell them to do so they can obtain Salvation So far I have no place where I can settle ,I keep looking Greece may be or could be ideal but it is not so easy to know before getting any political views on the issue from the Government of Greece For example are those Mosques available for resettlement and worship That would be good to know But I guess I would have to travel there and enquire Thank you so much

[@annetarekali1529]

These mosques are Byzantine monuments, they belong to Byzantine history, many of them are also protected by Unesco and of course you can visit them... But i should stress at this point that they are also very old, which means that they are maintained with great care. This means that they cannot be used by the world as places of prayer because obviously their deterioration will multiply and they will not last over time.. The main and most important thing, i think, is their preservation.

[@abdullahozek8016]

@@annetarekali1529 I have clearly understood , thank you

[@annetarekali1529]

@@abdullahozek8016 You're welcome! 🙂

[@rollerboogie]

I am going to Greece in 2x weeks and was confused since I saw no Ottomoman monuments. I figured they had been destroyed or converted. I don't really blame them though. I can see not wanting to have monuments of your several hundred year oppressor around.

[@halitmahmut66]

THERE'S LOTS OF GREEK CHURCHES IN ISTANBUL THAT ARE NOT ONLY RESTORED BUT ACTUALLY OPEN AND USED BY CHRISTIANS LIVING IN TÜRKIYE, SO IN MY OPINION TÜRKIYE SHOULD GIVE GREECE AN ULTIMATUM THAT THEY ALLOW THE BUILDING OF MOSQUES IN ATHENS OR ALL THE CHURCHES WILL BE CLOSED!!!! 🇵🇰🇹🇷💚❤💪💪🇵🇰🇹🇷💪💪🇵🇰🇹🇷💪💪🇵🇰🇹🇷🤲

[@bozeeke]

One group was the foreign invader and the other were the slaves. So we have much more legitimate reason to hate the other side than vice versa. There should be no mosques in Greece. Putting a mosque in Greece is like asking black Americans to build a confederate memorial museum in Harlem. Secondly, most churches in Turkey belong to Christian worshippers who are not Greeks. You clowns ethnically cleansed almost all the Greeks living in Anatolia or forced them to leave (a land that they we a much longer history in than you by thousands of years by the way) in the 1920s and again in 1955 and 1973. There's barely 1000 Greeks in Turkey today and most are elderly. So I don't see the logic in telling Greece to build mosques in Athens or you're going to take Armenian and Russian churches away from those Christian groups living there that have nothing to do with Greece. And as an aside, maybe the Turkish government should stop ethnically cleansing Kurds in Syria and Northern Iraq or trying to wipe Armenia off the map.

[@kaloarepo288]

And give back Hagia Sophia to the Christians or at least make it a museum again.Give ultimatum to Saudi Arabia to allow open profession of Christianity and other religions including in Mecca and Medina where no non Muslim is allowed in!

[@alexisgateley230]

Save us your BS...The turkish state over the past few years have turned into mosques the historic Agia Sophia churches in Constantinople (istanbul), Trapezounta (trabzon), Nicaea (iznik) and Ainos (eniz)....and concerning the once populous (and supposedly to be protected in accordance to the Lausanne Treaty) Greek minority in Turkey from 200,000 a century ago are now amount to only about 2000, mostly elderly following decades of merciless oppression by the Turkish state I.e. 1955 Istanbul pogrom...so once more, save us your BS

[@Zhm6802]

Great, I thought Turks hated Christians, this is great news, as a Muslim I want peace with Christians and non-Muslims, and this relationship must be preserved please, we must inherit it

[@issith7340]

Who cares, about these kitchy buildings? Greece has 99% more historic time , architectural treasures of it’s own, etc., for someone to enjoy!

[@HopeWilhelmina]

Ottoman Occupation is part of Greece's history,either we like it ot not.

[@issith7340]

Also have in mind that greece has almost no muslim population, at all

[@maulanasalahudinchan8497]

Sukron

[@issith7340]

Don’t you compare ottomans with other recent empires, cause they are not comparable. Ottomans commiigenocides , not “ crimes”. Slso the didn’t produyany civilization. Only destroyed civilization or , used, partly preexisting civilization in a primitized manner.

[@c3lin3dj19]

Wow, nice video. Could've left out the rant at the start of the video though!

[@kariba25]

How did you miss the museum-house of Kemal Ataturk in Thessaloniki ?

[@aly-zy4th]

Cause why should he cover it, the man responsible for the genocide of Greeks and the destruction of Smyrna.