The mosque of the Monastiraki square was built in 1759 by the Ottoman governor of Athens, Mustafa Aga Tzisdarakis, in the heart of the city’s market area, Kato Pazari, next to the fountain that designated the center of the market. The monument was restored by the architect Anastasios Orlandos in 1915 and the building was given over for museum use in 1918 to the newly founded Museum of Greek Handicraft, now the Museum of Modern Greek Culture.
The foundational inscription is preserved on the transom of the entrance door, while inside the building on the east side, the mihrab (prayer niche) is elaborately decorated with honeycomb vaulting, painted vegetal motifs and inscriptions.
