{{Redirect|Mosque of Pasha Qasim|the mosque in Edirne, Turkey|Evliya Kasim Pasha Mosque}} {{Infobox church | name = Downtown Candlemas Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary | full_name = ''Belvárosi Gyertyaszentelő Boldogasszony-templom'' | image = Régi török dzsámi (18015. számú műemlék) 3.jpg | image_size = 300px | alt = | landscape = | caption = The church with the [[Holy Trinity]] statue (1714) and the [[John Hunyadi]] statue (1956) | pushpin_map = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_mapsize = | map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|46|4|37|N|18|13|41|E|display=it|region:HU_type:landmark}} | osgraw = <!-- TEXT --> | location = [[Pécs]] | country = [[Hungary]] | denomination = [[Catholic]] | previous_denomination = [[Islam]] | tradition = | churchmanship = [[Latin Church|Latin]] | website = | former_name = {{nowrap|Mosque of Pasha Qasim}} | consecrated = | status = {{ubl|'''[[Church (building)|Church]]''' {{small|(since 1702)}}|''[[Mosque]]'' {{small|(1540s&ndash;1702)}}}} | functional_status = Active | heritage_designation = | designated = | previous_cathedrals = | architect = | architectural_type = {{nowrap|[[Mosque architecture]]}} | style = [[Ottoman architecture]] | years_built = | groundbreaking = | completed = {{ubl|{{circa|1540s}} {{small|(as a [[mosque]])}}|1702 {{small|(as a church)}}}} | construction_cost = | closed = | demolished = | capacity = | length = {{cvt|29|m}} | width = {{cvt|16|m}} | height = {{cvt|23|m}} | archdiocese = | metropolis = | diocese = | province = | archbishop = | bishop = | dean = }}

[[File:Pécs - Mosque Church 02.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Interior of the church with Ottoman Turkish elements]] The '''Downtown Candlemas Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary''' ({{langx|hu|Belvárosi Gyertyaszentelő Boldogasszony-templom}}), formerly known as the '''Mosque of Pasha Qasim''' ({{langx|hu|Gázi Kászim pasa dzsámija}}, {{langx|tr|Gazi Kasım Paşa Camii}}) is a [[Catholic]] [[Church (building)|church]] in [[Pécs]], [[Hungary]], which was a mosque in the 16–17th century due to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] conquest. It is one of the symbols of the city, located in the downtown, on the main square ([[Széchenyi square (Pécs)|Széchenyi square]]). The current building, a hundred steps in length and in width, was built by Pasha Qasim the Victorious between 1543 and 1546. The mosque was converted into a church in 1702,<ref>Pécs Lexikon, Ferenc Romváry, Pécs, 2010, pp. 98, {{ISBN|978-963-06-7919-0}}</ref> after [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg]]-[[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungarian]] troops reconquered the city. The [[minaret]] was destroyed by the [[Jesuits]] in 1766. One of the largest Ottoman constructions remaining in Hungary, the building still retains many Turkish architectural characteristics.

== History == [[image:Zelesny Károly Pécs 1880s.jpg|thumb|Széchenyi square in the 1880s]] Standing at the highest point of Pécs's Széchenyi square, the mosque-turned-church is representative of the Turkish style of architecture in Hungary. It is thought to have been constructed in the second half of the 16th century, several years after the Ottoman occupation of Pécs in [[1543]]. In the 1660s, the famous Turkish traveller [[Evliya Çelebi]] praised the view from the mosque in writing.

A number of changes were made to the building between the 18th and the 20th centuries as part of the mosque's conversion to a Roman Catholic church. Its minaret was taken down after having been enlarged, leaving only the bulk (the octagon drum, covered by a dome, [[Eastern Orthodox church architecture|patterned after traditional Orthodox cathedrals]]) of the original structure remaining. Arc windows were set in two rows on the façades of the southeastern, southwestern, and northeastern sides of the building, in 3–3 and 4-4 patterns. Inside, some Ottoman decoration and inscriptions from the ''[[Qur'an]]'' are clearly visible in the remaining plaster parts. The Turkish pulpit and the women's balcony were destroyed, and the ''[[mihrab]]'' was removed (but later replaced). The two Turkish bathing basins before the [[Sacristy|sacristies]] (today, holy water) were taken from the former bath of the pasha next to the church.

==References== {{reflist}}

== Bibliography == {{inline|date=November 2024}} * {{cite book |author=Jenő, Rados |title=Magyar építészettörténet |pages=161–168 |year=1961 |editor=Műszaki, K. |publisher=ETO 72 (439) 091 |lang=hu}} * {{cite book |author=Szerk, Fülep L. |title=A magyarországi művészet története |pages=371–372 |year=1961 |editor=Képzőmúv, Alap K. |publisher=Kossuth Ny. 61.3465 |lang=hu}} * {{cite book |author=Ignác, Goldziher |title=Az iszlám kultúrája |editor=Gondolat, K. |year=1981 |isbn=963-280-607-7 |lang=hu}} * {{cite book |author=Stierlin, H. |title=Iszlám művészet és építészet |editor=Alexandra, K. |isbn=963-368-127-8 |lang=hu}} * {{cite book |author=Stierlin, H. |title=Türkei – Architektur von Seldschuken bis Osmanen |date=1998 |publisher=Taschen Weltarchitektur – |isbn=3-8228-7857-X |lang=de}}

== External links == {{commons-inline|Category:Pécs Mosque Church|Mosque of pasha Qasim}} * [http://www.terebess.hu/keletkultinfo/minaret/pecs.html Terebess Asia-lexicon] * [http://www.civertan.hu/legifoto/legifoto.php?page_level=492 Aerial photos of the mosque and the city.]

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Pécs]] [[Category:Buildings converted to Catholic church buildings]] [[Category:Churches completed in 1702]] [[Category:Churches converted from mosques]] [[Category:Former mosques in Hungary]] [[Category:Mosques completed in the 1540s]] [[Category:Ottoman mosques in Hungary]] [[Category:Roman Catholic church buildings in Hungary]] [[Category:Tourist attractions in Pécs]]