The amount of one million euros was approved by the Region of Epirus for the restoration of the Ottoman mosque Imaret in Arta, which is considered a monument-symbol for the city.
The studies were elaborated and completed by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Arta and concern on the one hand the restoration work of the Ottoman mosque and the surrounding area and on the other hand the recording of problems of the building materials and the decoration.
Imaret was a building complex, from which only the mosque of Faik Pasha, which functioned as a poorhouse and was financially independent, has survived.
There was a mosque, a hamam, a restaurant, beds for wayfarers and the poor, and a madrasa (Islamic seminary).
This mosque was built in the second half of the 15th century by Faik Pasha, the first Ottoman conqueror of Arta.
It was constructed with materials, which were transported from the old Byzantine church of Paregoritissa of ancient Nikopolis, as well as from the Byzantine church of Panagia Pantanassa and various ancient buildings of Amvrakia.
According to archaeological finds, the mosque was probably built on the ruins of a Byzantine church dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
After the liberation of Arta, the mosque was temporarily transformed into a church dedicated to Saint John the Russian.
In 1938, with a Royal Decree, the mosque was declared a historic site.