Sulejman Pasha Mosque

The Old Mosque (Albanian: Xhamia e Vjetër) or Sulejman Pasha mosque (Albanian: Xhamia e Sulejman Pashës) was the founding mosque of the Albanian capital Tirana. The city developed around the mosque, which was founded by the Ottoman Albanian Pasha Sulejman Bargjini along with a hammam and a bakery. In the mid of the 20th century, all of it was razed to make place for the Communist-era Unknown Soldier statue.

Sulejman Pasha Mosque
The Old mosque in 1914, 300 years after its construction
Religion
Affiliation	Sunni Islam
Location
Location	Tirana, Albania
Architecture
Type	Mosque
Completed	1614

History

Built in 1614, it was the oldest mosque of the city of Tirana and was one of the oldest mosques in Albania. The Ottoman general and ethnic Albanian, Sulejman Bargjini had fought for the Ottomans against the Safavids in Persia (Iran).^[1]

Because of its beautiful minaret and its frescoe paintings, the Old Mosque stood in rivalry with the Et'hem Bey Mosque founded by Sulejman Bargjini's descendant Molla Bey of Petrela in 1793 and finished by his son Haxhi Etëhem Bey Mollaj. Next to the Sulejman Pasha mosque was the Sulejman Pasha Tomb. The Kapllan Pasha Tomb is in the same neighbourhood.

The mosque was destroyed in the Second World War.^[2] Despite funds collected by the people of Tirana to rebuild the mosque, its remains and its minaret which still stood were destroyed in 1967 by the new Communist government under Enver Hoxha who also destroyed the Dine Hoxha mosque in Tirana. The monument of the "Unknown Soldier" (Albanian: Ushtari i panjohur) was constructed on its site instead.^[3]

See also

• Islam in Albania

References

1. Lika, Ferit (2013-08-20), Xhamia e Vjetër [The old mosque] (in Albanian), Gazeta "Drita Islame", Xhamia e vjetër e Tiranës mendohet të jetë ndërtuar aty nga mesi i shekullit XVI, prej Sulejman Pashës, djali i një prej familjeve të para të fshatit Mullet, që ndodhet pak kilometra në periferi të Tiranës së sotme.
2. Kristo Frashëri (1964), "Ne prag te 350 vjetorit te themelimit te Tiranes", Ylli (6–12), Labour Youth Union of Albania: 34, ISSN 0513-5486, OCLC 5436004, ...varri i tij ndodhej në një tyrbe pranë xhamisë deri sa u rënua së bashku me faltoren, në Nëndor 1944.
3. Gazmend Bakiu (2013), Tirana e vjetër, Tirana: Mediaprint, pp. 45, 52, ISBN 978-9928-08-101-8