Et'hem Bey Mosque

The Et'hem Bey mosque stands on Skanderbeg Square in the middle of Tirana, begun in the 1790s and finished around 1821, a small building by the standards of the square around it, and its distinction is the painting: the porch and the interior carry frescoes of trees, waterfalls, bridges and buildings, landscape subjects that are unusual in a mosque and are thought to reflect Bektashi influence, painted in soft colours over the walls and the dome. It was closed under the twentieth-century ban on religion and its reopening in 1991, when thousands entered without official permission, was a turning point. A long restoration completed recently has cleaned the paintings. The clock tower next door can be climbed.

History

Molla Bey began the mosque in 1791 or 1794 and his son Haxhi Ethem Bey, a great-grandson of Sulejman Pasha, finished it in 1819 or 1821, as part of the old centre of Tirana, with the bazaar in front, the Sulejman Pasha Mosque of 1614 to the east, lost in the Second World War, and the Karapici mosque to the north-west. Under communist rule it was closed, though declared a historical monument and restored in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and on 18 January 1991, as communism was falling, 10,000 people carrying flags entered it despite opposition from the authorities, a milestone in the rebirth of religious freedom in Albania (Wikipedia, Et'hem Bey Mosque).

What to look for

• Landscape frescoes - trees, waterfalls and bridges painted inside and on the porch.
• A small mosque on a large square - the scale against modern Tirana.
• The 1991 reopening story - the crowd that entered without permission.
• The clock tower next door - climbable, with a view over the square.

When to go

Year round. One hour. It closes to visitors at prayer times, especially Friday midday. Modest dress and shoes off; scarves are provided. Mornings are quietest.

Practical notes

It is small and twenty minutes covers it. Access is refused during prayers and can be limited by the number of visitors. Photography inside is sometimes restricted. The square outside is a large open space with little shade.

Nearby

Skanderbeg Square surrounds it; the Tanners Bridge is a short walk east.

Key facts