Ali Hilmi Pasha Mosque

Information

The mosque of Ali Hilmi Pasha is situated in the area of St Stephen’s hill, on the island of Rhodes. It was built in 1909 by the Egyptian Ali Hilmi Pasha, who used to spend his summertime in Rhodes, staying at a mansion across the street.
The mosque doesn’t bear a minaret, or a sciadrevan – fountain for the ritual wash of hands and legs, or the turbe – the tomb of the founder, but only a fountain, attached on the walls of the courtyard, made of black and white pebbles in the shape of a star. The rewak bearing four pillars and a wooden roof with tiles, leads to the main hall of 10X10 sq.m., undecorated, but covered by an extraordinary octagonal wooden structure of curved beams converging in the middle, coated in the inside and bearing tiles, in the shape of a pagoda in the outside. Opposite the entrance, in the direction of Mecca stand a mihrab – niche of prayers, a stony kursi – low minber – and a wooden minber. Above the entrance wall there is a wooden balcony for the women prayers.
The mosque, fully restored by the Municipality of Rhodes, is open to the public, hosting the local chess association “The Knight”.