Fatih Mosque

The Fatih Mosque (Albanian: Xhamia e Fatihut) is an Albanian Cultural Monument in Durrës. It was named after Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror and erected in 1502, the year after the city was conquered by Moslems (Sulltan Mehmet Fatihu). The mosque was closed by Communist authorities and proclaimed a cultural monument in 1973. After the Communist regime ended, the minaret was demolished and rebuilt in a more plain design.

The mosque comprises of the main structure and the northwest-facing minaret. This is white-plastered and rather thin in comparison to the stone foundation, and the minaret’s scissors (balcony) is equally simple in style. The medieval minaret was somewhat broader and more suited to the massive base. The roof of the minaret is formed like a pencil tip and is sky blue in hue. The main structure houses the rectangular prayer chamber. Wood is used for interior fittings, windows, and doors. Furthermore, calligraphy is linked to the interior.

The Fatih Mosque was constructed over the foundations of an early Christian basilica that formerly stood in Dyrrachium, a historic prosperous city. The northern arcade and the western wall are the only parts of the wall that survive.

The Fatih Mosque was erected between 1502 and 1503 and is named after Sultan Mehmed II, “the Conqueror”, who conquered Constantinople. It was the first building completed in Durrës when the Ottomans captured the city in 1502. The Fatih Mosque is Albania’s third oldest Islamic site of worship, after a wrecked mosque in Berat (year of construction: 1380) and the Mirahor mosque in Korça (1494–1496), however the royal mosques in Berat and Elbasan are likely earlier.

The mosque was closed to the public for 23 years during the communist period, after ex-dictator Enver Hoxha’s imposition of a religious ban in 1967. Only the base survived after the minaret was dismantled. The Fatih Mosque reopened its doors in 1990, when Albania started its democratic transformation and all of the country’s churches were reopened.

The mosque’s renovations were finished in March 2011. A total of 5 million Lek (about 35,000 eur) was spent with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports and the Muslim Community of Albania. The roof, outside façade, wooden doors and windows, and metal fences were all repaired.