Mendrese

Η πύλη του Μενδρεσέ.

Athens – Greece.

Opposite the Roman Agora is the doorway of Mendrese or Medrese (from Arabic: Madrasah) originally a Muslim religious school founded in 1721 by Mehmet Fahri.
100 years later, in 1821 during the Greek War of Independence the Turks used it as a prison and hung many Greeks from a maple tree (platanos) and after the war the Greeks used it for the same purpose. In the minds of the Athenians it became a cursed place. In 1914 during archaeological excavations in the area the building was demolished except for the door.

I would like to thank the archaeologists Maria Leni and Alexandra Kostarelli for their assistance.

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© 2010 Jordan Kevrekidis