Tombul Mosque is the largest building in Bulgaria and one of the biggest on the Balkan Peninsula. Also known as Sherif Halil Pasha. Name - Tombul - mosque received thanks to the special shape of its dome. Construction of the mosque was started in 1740 and completed by 1744, and in 1975 the mosque is a monument of architecture and construction skills.

In the architecture of the mosque had a tangible impact style "tulip", which originated in the early XVIII century. To characterize this style, you can most accurately if to say that it includes elements of the French Baroque and oriental motifs.

Tombul Mosque and the complex of buildings surrounding it, to create the largest area in the country of the Muslim temple, architectural significance which holds the second position in the Balkans (in the first - the Mosque of Sultan Selim in Edirne, Turkey). In this complex area of ​​1730 square meters of buildings harmoniously combines all the parts, which, in turn, connected to each other patios.

Before we get into the hall of prayer, to pass through the threshold, which is decorated with high arcades in the Moorish spirit. Open vestibule is supported by four massive marble columns and crowned his five domes.

The prayer hall is illuminated by window openings zones, three of which are decorated with colorful stained glass. Complement the interior and exterior parts in Baroque style. The Tombul mosque has a prayer room, and especially for women, for that set aside a balcony in the hall. In general, in the prayer hall of the mosque there is a splendid acoustics of the many pots of clay, built into the walls and the dome. The walls are decorated with Arabic script - quotations from the Koran.

To the left of the prayer hall is located madrassas (Muslim secondary school) where more than 12 buildings occupied by the students. On the top floor there is a library, where the first store valuable works written in Persian and Arabic. Here lay the map of the Arab geographer who later deposited in the library of St. Sophia. Cyril and Methodius.

The height of minarets - 40 meters, it is located 99 spiral stone steps and a small balcony. In arcade yard (so called because of the shape of its arches) is a fountain where Muslims before prayer made to make ritual ablution.