Bazaar Mosque (Gjirokastra)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medrese (left) and mosque seen from the castle
Street side of the mosque

The Bazaar Mosque ( Albanian  Xhamia e Pazarit ), formerly also Memi Bey Mosque ( Xhamia e Memi Beut ), is a mosque in Gjirokastra in Albania .

The mosque was built in 1757 and is located in the New Bazaar district , which was laid out in the 16th century. This was destroyed by a fire in the following century, after which the mosque was rebuilt. It is a single-dome mosque with a portico  made from materials typical of the city. The mosque is steeply on the slope and was built on a building below. This presumably contained shops, from whose income the maintenance of the mosque was covered. The minaret  has 99 steps that represent the 99 names of Allah .

It is one of the original 15 mosques that were built in the city during the Ottoman era , 13 of which remained after World War II. The mosque was raised to the status of cultural monument ( Monumente Kulturore ) by the Albanian government in 1973 , which saved it from being destroyed. The remaining twelve mosques were demolished. Because of the ban on religion in Albania, the bazaar mosque was used as a training hall for circus acrobats who hung their trapeze in the high dome of the mosque.

Right next to the mosque is a two-story octagonal building that was built in 1727. It was originally used as a cemevi of the Bektashi , but it was closed during the communist period. It is used today as a madrasah .

Since 2018 the building has been restored by the Presidium for International Cooperation and Coordination of the Republic of Turkey . However, the Institute for Monuments of Albania caused a scandal because the appearance of the mosque was heavily changed (similar to the Naziresha mosque in Elbasan ) and the "restoration" was no longer appropriate for a monument. The Ministry of Culture of Albania under Mirela Kumbaro came under fire . The black slate roof of the bazaar mosque, which is typical of the World Heritage city of Gjirokastra , has been replaced by simple, straight-cut stone tiles. Mortar was also used for the roof, which is also atypical for the region.

literature

  • Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization (Ed.): Gjirokastra - the essential guide . Tirana / Norwich 2009, ISBN 978-99956-747-0-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Guntram Koch: DuMont Art Travel Guide Albania . DuMont, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7701-2079-5 , p. 257 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Religious Sites. In: Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization. Retrieved December 31, 2011 .
  3. ↑ a b Regjimi komunist në Shqipëri. In: Gjirokastra Conservation and Development Organization. Retrieved December 31, 2011 (Albanian).
  4. ↑ Xhamia e Gjirokastrës, monumenti i shek. 17 që u zhbë nga restaurimi. In: Gazeta Shqiptare. August 13, 2019, Retrieved August 25, 2019 (Albanian).

Coordinates: 40 ° 4 ′ 25 ″  N , 20 ° 8 ′ 17 ″  E