Mirahori Mosque
| Iljaz Mirahori Mosque | |
|---|---|
Xhamia e Iljaz Mirahorit | |
The mosque in 2014 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Islam |
| Ecclesiastical or organisational status | Mosque
|
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | Korçë |
| Country | Albania |
Location of the mosque in Albania | |
Interactive map of Iljaz Mirahori Mosque | |
| Coordinates | 40°36′57″N 20°46′31″E / 40.61583°N 20.77528°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Islamic architecture |
| Style | Ottoman |
| Founder | Iljaz bej Mirahori |
| Completed | 1496 CE |
| Specifications | |
| Dome | 1 |
| Minaret | 1 |
| Official name | Iljaz Mirahori Mosque |
| Reference no. | KO104 |
The Iljaz Mirahori Mosque (Albanian: Xhamia e Iljaz Mirahorit), or more simply the Mirahor Mosque, is a mosque in Korçë, Albania.
History
The mosque, identified by an inscription above its entrance as having been built in 1494–95, is one of the oldest in Albania. It features a square prayer hall topped by a single dome, a three-domed entrance porch, and finely crafted cloisonné masonry. Its minaret, lost in an earthquake in the early 1960s, was rebuilt after 2006. Historically, the mosque served as the core of a larger architectural complex that included an imaret, bakery, storage rooms, a han, a hamam, and a mekteb. Iljaz bej Mirahori, a Korça-born official who rose to prominence under Sultan Bayezid II, endowed five villages to finance this and other constructions. His goal was to elevate the small settlement into a Muslim town, which, according to Ottoman law, required the presence of both a Friday mosque and a marketplace for residents to be registered as townspeople rather than peasants.[1] According to the writer Sami Frashëri, it was built on the foundations of an existing monastery, then called dedicated to Saint Paraskevi (Kisha e Shën e Premtes).[2]
The Iliaz Mirahor Mosque was designated as a religious Cultural Monument of Albania.[3]
Gallery
-
The historical ceiling of the mosque of which parts of the frescoes got lost and have to be restored
-
The mosque with its minaret destroyed by the Greeks and French in 1917
See also
References
- ^ Zindel, Christian; Lippert, Andreas; Lahi, Bashkim; Kiel, Machiel (2018). Albanien: Ein Archäologie- und Kunstführer von der Steinzeit bis ins 19. Jahrhundert (in German). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 380.
- ^ "Çfarë dihet për xhaminë e Mirahorit në Korçë?". Dita (in Albanian). February 29, 2016. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ^ "Religious buildings with the "Culture Monument" status". Komiteti Shqiptar per Kultet. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
External links
Media related to Mirahori Mosque at Wikimedia Commons