Alaca Imaret Mosque, Ottoman mosque in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The Alaca Imaret Mosque is an Ottoman limestone building in central Thessaloniki, covered by two large domes over the prayer hall and five smaller domes above the front portico. The structure connects several interior spaces, including the former prayer hall and side rooms that once served community functions.

The mosque was built in the 1480s by Ishak Pasha, one of the most powerful Ottoman governors of the city at that time. When Thessaloniki joined Greece in 1912, the minaret was torn down and the building changed its use several times over the following decades.

The name Alaca, "colored" in Turkish, comes from the multicolored stones (alaça) set in diamond patterns on the minaret; only its base survives. The building was founded as an imaret, a charity kitchen, with a medrese and prayer space, and by the 17th century ranked among the city's most important institutions. It now hosts cultural events and periodic exhibitions.

The building sits in the old part of Thessaloniki and is easy to reach on foot from most central points of the city. Since it now serves as an exhibition space, it is worth checking before your visit whether an event or show is currently running inside.

The building originally also functioned as an imaret, a type of public kitchen that distributed free meals daily to the poor, students, and travelers. Such institutions were once common across Ottoman cities, but today very few survive in a condition visitors can still enter.