Galatz

Previous to 1878, by the privileges granted to the Romanian Principalities / Romania by the Sublime Porte, it was forbidden for Muslin subjects to settle and built mosques on Romanian territory. Thus it was only after the gaining of national independence that Muslim communities could be organised on Romanian soil. At Galaţi, the community (which numbered 115 members in the 1880s) built in 1894 a mosque called “Hamdié”, on Cantemir Street. It was erected with the support of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and according to a description had no minaret, and there were no separate seats for men and women. The mosque was destroyed when the area was systematised in the 1980s[1].

[1] Gh. N. Munteanu–Bârlad, Galaţii (Galaţi: Societatea de Editură Ştiinţifică–Culturală, 1927), 69; Anuarul general al oraşului Galaţi şi al jud. Covurlui, 1930–1931, edited by Radu Volbură (Brăila: Dunărea Institutul de Arte Grafice, 1931), 27; Paul Păltănea, Istoria oraşului Galaţi de la origini până la 1918, second edition, edited by Eugen Drăgoi, (Galaţi: Editura Partener, 2008), vol. II, 214; http://www.viata-libera.ro/societate/49513-galati-viata-libera-cotidian-familie-multinationala-%E2%80%9Esultana%E2%80%9D-gulten-carturar-cu-doua-mame.

References

Websites:

http://www.viata-libera.ro/societate/49513-galati-viata-libera-cotidian-familie-multinationala-%E2%80%9Esultana%E2%80%9D-gulten-carturar-cu-doua-mame

Archival sources:

Serviciul Judeţean Galaţi al Arhivelor Naţionale (The National Archives, Galaţi Branch), Primăria oraşului Galaţi (The Municipality of Galaţi), files starting with 1831.

Bibliography:

Anuarul general al oraşului Galaţi şi al jud. Covurlui, 1930–1931 [The General Yearbook of Galaţi City and of Covurlui County, 1930–1931], edited by Radu Volbură (Brăila: Dunărea Institutul de Arte Grafice, 1931).

Munteanu–Bârlad, Gh. N., Galaţii (Galaţi: Societatea de Editură Ştiinţifică–Culturală, 1927).

Pacu, Moise N., Cartea Judeţului Covurlui. Note geografice, istorice şi în deosebi statistice [The Book of Covurlui County. Geographical, Historical and Mainly Statistical Notes] (Bucharest: Stabilimentul Grafic I. V. Socecu, 1891).

Păltănea, Paul, Istoria oraşului Galaţi de la origini până la 1918 [The History of Galaţi from Its Beginnings to 1918], second edition, edited by Eugen Drăgoi (Galaţi: Editura Partener, 2008).

Tezaur documentar gălăţean [Tresure of Documents on Galaţi], edited by Cezar Bejan, Alexandru Duţă, Stelian Iordache, Viorica Solomon (Bucharest: Direcţia Generală a Arhivelor Statului, 1988).