The Hızırbey Camii, known locally as the Büyük Cami, stands among the shops of the market in central Kırklareli and can hold close to a thousand worshippers. Köse Mihalzade Hızır Bey built it in 1383, and it is an early Ottoman work, square in plan, with its outer wall faces, dome drum and minaret all of neatly cut küfeki stone.
It has been damaged by earthquakes. After damage in 1824 the mosque was repaired by Aydoslu Hacı Yusuf Paşa, and the rectangular portico, damaged in a later quake, was rebuilt by Tosunoğlu Ali Efendi in 1887. The cut-stone minaret, with a single balcony, a square section and a lead-covered cap, was half destroyed in the Balkan fighting and rebuilt in 1937.
The painted decoration inside is very simple and probably all belongs to the repairs of the 19th century. An inscription band runs around the walls at the foot of the dome, a wide lettered border frames the mihrab wall and sülüs lettering fills the window lunettes, all in white on a navy-blue ground. The painted flower baskets, corded curtains and ribbons are unpretentious examples of the baroque style, and the large lettering on the interior walls is the work of the calligrapher Tevfik of Kastamonu.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Kırklareli as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 3 °C in January to 23.9 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in December (70 mm) and lightest in August (21 mm). Long-term means for 1959-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
