Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens addressed a letter to Culture Minister Aristidis Baltas, called for the Greek government to extend its plans for the restoration of former Fethiye mosque in Athens’ Monastiraki area with the simultaneous restoration of a pre-existing Orthodox Church on which the mosque was built.

He said that he was informed of the decision to restore the mosque “in accordance with the wishes of and pressures from our neighbours” from the government’s Diavgeia website. Investigating the archeological history of the site, he said that the Turkish conquerors who built the mosque had also “demolished the first Church of Athens upon which the mosque was built.”

He proposed that the renovation of the church coincide with that of the mosque to highlight the country’s succession of cultures and history.