Vol. 12 No. 2 (2015): Cultural Transitions in Ottoman Architecture
Articles

Observations on the existing Ottoman mosques in Albania

Edmond Manahasa
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Tirana, Albania
İlknur Aktuğ Kolay
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

Published 2015-07-01

Keywords

  • Mosques in Albania,
  • Mosque architecture,
  • Ottoman architecture

How to Cite

Manahasa, E., & Aktuğ Kolay, İlknur. (2015). Observations on the existing Ottoman mosques in Albania. A|Z ITU JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, 12(2), 69 - 81. Retrieved from https://www.az.itu.edu.tr/index.php/jfa/article/view/419

Abstract

The construction of mosques in Albania starts right after the Ottoman sovereignty at the end of the 14th century. The 15th and 16th century mosques were commissioned by the Ottoman administrators or by the Albanian-Ottoman no- bles and the ones built after the 16th century were commissioned by the local Muslim notables. Today, only nine mosques that were built during the Ottoman period exist in Albania. The existing mosques are surveyed and evaluated regarding the Ottoman and local Albanian architectural features. The Ottoman architectural features are seen at the last prayer hall and north-west façade of the Leaden, Bayezid II and Mehmet Pashë Bushatlliu mosques, the side rivaqs and the courtyard of the Mehmet Pashë Bushatlliu Mosque, and the small balcony protruding at the middle part of the women’s gallery of the Bayezid II and the Mirahor Ilyas Beg mosques. Whereas, the inset wooden domes covered by a curb roof of Bayezid II Mosque, the two small domes at the center of the last prayer hall of the Leaden Mosque, the cross vaults of the Mehmet Pashë Bushatlliu Mosque, the wide last prayer hall area of the Haxhi Ehem Beg, Beqarëve and the Bayezid II mosques, the decoration of the mihrab and minber, and the wall paintings of the Mirahor Ilyas Beg, the Haxhi Ethem Beg and the Beqarëve mosques with a different painting technique from the ones in Istanbul and Anatolia are found as local Albanian properties.