Et'hem Bey Mosque

Et'hem Bey Mosque
Native name
Albanian: Xhamia e Et'hem Beut

During the day
Location Tirana, Albania
Built 1819 or 1821

The Et'hem Bey Mosque (Albanian: Xhamia e Et'hem Beut) is an 18th-century mosque located in the center of the Albanian capital Tirana.[1] Closed under communist rule, the mosque reopened as a house of worship in 1991, without permission from the authorities. 10,000 courageous people dared to attend and remarkably the police did not interfere. You can take a look at the frescoes outside and in the portico which depict trees, waterfalls and bridges - motifs rarely seen in Islamic art.

History

Construction was started in 1791 or 1794 by Molla Bey and it was finished in 1819 or 1821 by his son Haxhi Ethem Bey, grand-grandson of Sulejman Pasha.[2]

During the totalitarianism of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, the mosque was closed. On January 18, 1991, despite opposition from communist authorities, 10,000 people entered carrying flags. This was at the onset of the fall of communism in Albania.[3] The event was a milestone in the rebirth of religious freedom in Albania.

The frescoes of the mosque depict trees, waterfalls and bridges; still life paintings are a rarity in Islamic art. Tours of the mosque are given daily, though not during prayer service.[4] You have to take your shoes off before entering the inner room.

Gallery

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Et'hem Bey Mosque.
  1. ↑ M. Cavendish, World and Its Peoples page 1629
  2. ↑ H.T.Norris (1993), Islam in the Balkans: Religion and Society Between Europe and the Arab World, University of South Carolina Press, pp. 77–78, ISBN 9780872499775, OCLC 28067651
  3. ↑ Anthony Clunies Ross, Petar Sudar, Albania's economy in transition and turmoil, 1990-97, 1998, page 57
  4. ↑ Europe on a shoestring By Sarah Johnstone Page 59 ()

Coordinates: 41°19′40″N 19°49′9″E / 41.32778°N 19.81917°E / 41.32778; 19.81917

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