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Lead Mosque

Lead Mosque

Photo: Arianit · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Berat, Albania
Client / Owner
Ahmet Bej Uzgurliu
Year
Completed 1553
Access
Public
Typology
Spiritual
Style
Islamic

The Lead Mosque, also called the Izgurli Mosque, is in Berat, Albania, on Rruga Gaqi Gjika. Ahmet Bej Uzgurliu, a local nobleman from the Skuraj family, built it in the Ottoman style, and it was completed in 961 AH (1553–54 CE). The name comes from the lead coating on its spherical dome.

The prayer hall is square, with a portico on the north side and many windows. The minaret is tall and thin, with cloisonné molding where it meets the roof. The traveler Evliya Çelebi described an original complex that included a bazaar, a madrasa, an imaret, a school, a Turkish bath and a fountain.

TIKA, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, restored the mosque in 2014 and slightly modernized the minaret balcony. It is a Cultural Monument of Albania and part of the Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastër, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. It remains an active mosque.

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