Mosques

Immediately after the Ottoman conquest, most Christian churches were converted into mosques. The large friary church of St. Francis (where the Archaeological Museum now stands) became the Imperial or Hukniar Mosque, while San Salvatore, the other major Catholic church in the town, was named the Valide Mosque, being dedicated to the sultan's mother. The number of places of worship in 1818 is revealing: at that time the town had twenty mosques, two Greek Orthodox churches (St. Matthew's and St. Minas), one Armenian church and one Jewish synagogue.