The mosque in Monastiraki Square was built in 1759 by the governor of Athens, Mustafa Agha Tsisdarakis. It was formerly known as the Mosque of the Lower Fountain, after the fountain that stood nearby, while the entire area was known as the Lower Bazaar and was the nerve center of the city during Ottoman times. Tradition has it that its construction used limestone that came from columns, probably from Hadrian's Library. The incident caused a public outcry, as it was widely believed that the destruction of antiquities had caused a deadly epidemic, which resulted in Tsisdarakis being fined and deported from the city.→