ESMAHAN SULTAN MOSQUE

Built in 1573, it is one of the country's oldest mosques. It bears the name of its founder, Princess Esmahan, daughter of Sultan Selim II and wife of a vizier, who took refuge in Mangalia at the time. This beautiful, thick-walled, carved-stone edifice is surrounded by a small cemetery, where prominent figures of the period are buried. Some of the stelae are over three centuries old. Also note the ablutions fountain in the courtyard. The mosque still serves as a place of worship for the city's Turkish-Tatari community, which numbers some 3,000 worshippers.