The Mufti-Jami Mosque in Feodosia is located near the Morsad Park. The construction of the mosque began in 1632, and was completed in 1630. It was the heyday of the Crimean Khanate with its capital in Bakhchisarai. The Turks seized Crimea in 1475, 20 years after the fall of Constantinople. After that, they actively converted people to Islam in the Christian territories of Crimea.
Until 1475, the coastal territories in the Crimea were under the rule of the Genoese. They were Catholics. In the area of the cave city of Mangup-Kale, there was an Orthodox principality of Feodoro, under the rule of the Byzantines. Steppe Crimea was under the rule of the Crimean Khanate, the heir of the Golden Horde. When the Turks seized Crimea, they did not include it in their empire. They extended the power of the Crimean Khanate to the entire peninsula and took it under their protectorate.
After the conquest of Feodosia, by order of the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, in 1520 a large Biyuk-Jami Mosque was built in the city. It has not survived to this day. The Mufti-Jami Mosque was built a century later, and it became the second most important in Feodosia.
The Mufti-Jami Mosque was built in the architectural style of the mosques of Istanbul, which in turn copied the design of Byzantine temples, in particular the Hagia Sophia Cathedral. The mosque has a cubic structure, and a wide dome rests on supporting pillars.
After the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire in 1783, the Mufti-Jami Mosque was handed over to the Armenian community, and they arranged a Catholic church in it. In 1975, the restoration of the temple was made during the Soviet time. At that time, the minaret was restored, although the church remained Christian. In 1998, it was returned to the Muslim community and now the Mufti-Jami Mosque is the main mosque of Feodosia.
