Iljaz Mirahori Mosque () is a historic mosque in

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

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 ...

History

The mosque was built in 1494 and finished in 1496 by Iljaz Hoxha (also known as Iljaz Bey Mirahori), who was a veteran of the Istanbul Conquest and the city-founder of Korçë. 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)''. With its

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 ...

being torn down during the Communist dictatorship, the Iliaz Mirahor mosque was declared a religious Cultural Monument of Albania. After the end of Communist rule in the 1990s, the minaret was not rebuilt until 2014 when it was reconstructed in a slightly different and more simple style compared to the original one. The Ottoman Clock Tower of Korçë in front of the mosque has also been rebuilt afterwards.

References

Buildings and structures completed in 1496 Mosques completed in the 1490s Ottoman mosques in Albania 1490s establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1496 establishments in Europe Buildings and structures in Korçë Mosques in Albania Tourist attractions in Korçë Mosque buildings with domes in Albania Mosque buildings with minarets in Albania {{Albania-mosque-stub