The 'Yıldırım Camii' is also called ‘Ulu Cami’ (Great Mosque), 'Karakadi Camii' (Mosque of the Black Judge) or 'Paşa Camii' (Mosque of the Pasha). Built in 1382, ordered by (the future sultan) Yıldırım Beyazıt, who was governor of the region at that time. The mosque has been restored several times, last after a severe earthquake in 1944. Fortunately, this didn’t alter its original appearance too much. So the original setting of the mosque being built upon a set of shops, has been kept; the shops’s rent provide a permanent income to the ‘vakıf’ which runs the mosque.
Because the mosque has been built on a slope, the shops of the ‘ground floor’ only appear on the south side.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Vakıf Abideler ve eski Eserler’ II - Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Ankara 1977 & Personal visit (1996).