Tirana Ottoman Musjid
Tirana Ottoman Musjid
- Built in 1614, it was the oldest Musjid of the city of Tirana and was one of the oldest Musjids in Albania. The Ottoman general and ethnic Albanian, Sulejman Bargjini had fought for the Ottomans against the Safavids in Persia (Iran).
- Because of its beautiful minaret and its frescoe paintings, the Old Musjid stood in rivalry with the Et’hem Bey Musjid founded by Sulejman Bargjini’s descendant Molla Bey of Petrela in 1793 and finished by his son Haxhi Etëhem Bey Mollaj. Next to the Sulejman Pasha Musjid was the Sulejman Pasha Tomb. The Kapllan Pasha Tomb is in the same neighbourhood.
- The Musjid was destroyed in the Second World War. Despite funds collected by the people of Tirana to rebuild the Musjid, its remains and its minaret which still stood were destroyed in 1967 by the new Communist government under Enver Hoxha who also destroyed the Dine Hoxha Musjid in Tirana. The monument of the “Unknown Soldier” (Albanian: Ushtari i panjohur) was constructed on its site instead.