Yenicami Mosque, Nicosia

Despite its name-meaning “New Mosque”-Yenicami Mosque in northern Nicosia has roots that run deep into the medieval period. Located in the district that now bears its name, Yenicami stands as a palimpsest of Cypriot religious and architectural history, layered with Gothic, Ottoman, and more recent influences.

The site originally housed a Latin Gothic church built around the 1350s–1360s, likely influenced by the nearby Saint Catherine’s Church. Converted into a mosque in 1571 and named Cami-i Cedid (“New Mosque”), it stood until 1740–41, when a treasure hunt led by Ottoman judge Menteszade Haci Ismail Aga caused its collapse. Legend says he was executed, and his family tombs remain nearby.

A new mosque was built some 20 meters southwest of the ruins by the Menteszade family, and the current square-plan building-still known as Yenicami-was completed in 1898–1899. An inscription above its entrance bears the Hijri date 1316, corresponding to 1899 CE. The mosque also borders a historic Muslim burial ground, which includes gravestones fashioned from architectural fragments of the old Gothic structure. Among the interred is the Cypriot poet Hilmi Efendi, who died in 1847.

Yenicami's minaret, originally part of the old mosque, was damaged during the 1974 Cyprus conflict. It was subsequently demolished in 1977 and rebuilt in 1979. A courtyard fountain, a fine example of Ottoman utility and ornamentation, has also been restored to its original form.

Today, the Yenicami Mosque stands not just as a place of worship but as a living testament to the island’s complex and entangled past-Gothic, Ottoman, colonial, and modern.