The Sinan Pasha Mosque ( sq, Xhamia e Sinan Pashës; bs, Sinan-pašina džamija; sr, Синан Пашина Џамија; tr, Sinan Paşa Camii) is an Ottoman mosque in the city of

Prizren ) , settlement_type = Municipality and city , image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg , imagesize = 290px , image_caption = View of Prizren , image_alt = View of Prizren , image_flag ...

, Kosovo. It was built in 1615 by

Sofi Sinan Pasha Sofi may refer to: *Sofi (mascot), the Mascot for 2010 ISF Women's World Championship *Sofi Marinova (born 1975), Bulgarian singer SOFI may refer to: * Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore * Spray-On Foam Insulation, used on the Space Shut ...

, bey of Budim. The mosque overlooks the main street of Prizren and is a dominant feature in the town's skyline. Sinan Pasha Mosque was declared a

Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance Immovable Cultural Heritage of Exceptional Importance ( sr, Непокретна културна добра од изузетног значаја/) are those objects of Immovable cultural heritage that enjoy the highest level of state protection ...

in 1990 by the Republic of Serbia.

History

Sofi Sinan Pasha started construction of the mosque in either 1600 or 1608. Sofi Sinan Pasha, an Albanian and former

beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit=bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks ...

and kaymakam in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

should not be confused with

grand vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

Sinan Pasha Koca Sinan Pasha ( tr, Koca Sinan Paşa, "Sinan the Great"; c. 1506 - 3 April 1596) was an Albanian-born Ottoman Grand Vizier, military figure, and statesman. From 1580 until his death he served five times as Grand Vizier. In a Ragusan documen ...

, who built the Sinan Pasha Mosque in the nearby city of Kačanik. It is widely considered that the stones used to build the mosque were taken from nearby

Saint Archangels Monastery The Monastery of the Holy Archangels ( sr, Манастир Светих Архангела, Manastir Svetih Arhangela; al, Manastiri i Arkangjelit të Shenjtë) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Prizren, Kosovo. The monastery was foun ...

, a Serbian Orthodox monastery founded by Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan. In fact, parts of the former monastery can be seen in the mosque. The monastery, which was abandoned after the arrival of the Ottomans in the 16th century, had fallen to ruins by the 17th century. Hasan Kaleshi, an Albanian historian, sustained in 1972 that Sofi Sinan Pasha couldn't have possibly ordered any monastery destruction as this was impossible without a Sultan decree, rather, he ordered the use of the spare stones to a better deed as ordered by the Sultan.

Description

The mosque covers roughly by and is square in shape. It has one large dome and another smaller half-dome that covers the

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

, which is painted and has a stalactite hood. The mosque's walls are thick and its

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

, which is topped by a conical structure covered by lead, is in height. The walls and dome inside Sinan Pasha Mosque were painted in the 19th century, mostly of floral patterns and Qur'an verses. The

minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...

is painted with floral motives. Both the large dome and the half-dome of the mosque are covered with lead. The stone flooring of the mosque and the carpentry are original.

Preservation concerns

Rain, which over time has entered the mosque via holes in the roof, has caused the loss of some original paintings on the walls and has led to the detachment of some of the wall plaster. Stones of the façade have faced weathering.

Abdullah Gërguri Abdullah Gërguri (1931–1994) was a Kosovo Albanian artist in restoration and conservation of the icons and frescoes. Early Work & Training Gërguri was born in the village Sibofc near Podujevo, in southern Kingdom of Yugoslavia, present-day ...

worked on a series of repairs of the murals, particularly in the 1970s. In early 2000 the cost to rehabilitate the building was estimated at about €500,000 by UNESCO.

Manuscripts and use of building controversy

The Prizren municipality intended to build a library within the mosque in order to preserve not only the original Ottoman manuscripts found in the mosque, but also other valuable ones that can be found all over Kosovo. However, the Islamic Union of Kosovo filed a lawsuit against the Prizren Municipality in order to not allow the mosque to become a museum, but instead to have it continue to be a religious building.

Notes

References