The Sultan Mehmed Fatih Mosque of Krujë () or Fethiye Mosque () is an Ottoman-era mosque built before 1481 inside the

Krujë Castle Krujë ( sq-definite, Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north-central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is 20 km north of the capital of Albania, Tirana. Krujë was ...

Krujë Krujë ( sq-definite, Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north-central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is 20 km north of the capital of Albania, Tirana. Krujë was ...

Durrës County Durrës County (), officially the County of Durrës (), is a Counties of Albania, county in the Northern Albania, Northern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the smallest by area and the List of counties of Albania by population, second mos ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. It got destroyed in the mid of the 20th century and is near the entrance of the

Skanderbeg Museum The National History Museum "Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu" (), also known as the Skanderbeg Museum or the Kruja Museum, is located in Krujë and is one of the most important and visited museums in Albania. The museum was built at the end of the 1 ...

History

The Sultan Mehmed Fatih Mosque was built before 1481 and named after the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

(also called "the Conqueror"). After being destroyed in 1831, the mosque got rebuilt for the local Albanian population under the reign of the Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

. In 1917, the minaret of the Sultan Mehmed Fatih Mosque, famed for its beauty, collapsed due to a storm. Until 1937, the mosque was used a house of worship for the

Albanian Muslims Islam arrived in Albania mainly during the Ottoman period when the majority of Albanians over time converted to Islam under Ottoman rule. Following the Albanian National Awakening (Rilindja) tenets and the de-emphasis of religious tradit ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the mosque was abused and ammunition was stored inside the mosque. The mosque again decayed during the time of the Communist dictator

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

. Today, only the lower parts of the walls and the

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

remain of the Sultan Mehmed Fatih Mosque.

Sources

* Baki Dollma: ''Vende dhe ngjarje historike të Krujës e Kurbinit.'' „Dajti 2000", Tirana 2006, , Kalaja e Krujës, S. 18–21. Mosques in Albania Buildings and structures completed in 1481 Mosques completed in the 1480s Buildings and structures in Krujë Tourist attractions in Durrës County Mosques destroyed by communists Anti-Islam sentiment in Albania {{Albania-mosque-stub