Eid prayers held in a historic former mosque in northern Greece for the first time in 100 years

The Stars of David adorning the balconies along the top of the building catch the first glimmers of the dawn light as worshipers pass through the gates of the historic Yeni Cami, or New Mosque, for morning prayers.

Wednesday marked the first time since the 1920s that the building - originally erected for a community of Jewish converts to Islam at a time when the city of Thessaloniki was a cultural melting pot within the Ottoman Empire - was being used for mass prayers during Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday at the end of the monthlong fasting period of Ramadan.

"This is a beautiful thing, it's the first time we feel this, we didn't even know this mosque existed," said Ismael Bedredin, a member of Greece's Muslim minority who was among about 70 worshipers at the morning prayers. "Even though I've been living here for 63 years, it's the first time I see it. …. We were...