Bachelors' Mosque

The bachelor Mosque (Albanian Xhamia e Beqarëve ) is a historic building in the central Albanian town of Berat in the neighborhood Mangalem. It is built on the hillside at the foot of the hill, near the Osums.

The mosque was completed in 1826, some sources mention the 18th century as a period of construction. Originally it was known as Süleyman Paşa ( Pasha Alb. Sylejman ). In the lower part of the mosque, under the arcades, shops and warehouses were once integrated, which contributed to the upkeep of the mosque. Previously, the owners of these businesses commissioned young men (mostly bachelors ) in the custody of their stores, it came to designing the name of the mosque. Kiel explains that the origin of the name is unclear and the environment of the mosque may have been a meeting place for bachelors.

The mosque has a floor plan of 16.9 to 18.3 meters, her prayer room is almost square with room lengths of twelve meters. The paintings show red, floral ornaments around representations of mosques. The porch on the slope side of the mosque was built in 1827 and is slightly wider than the main building on both sides. Good visibility, the paintings on the outer walls, the ornaments, arabesques, plants and city views are showing. This makes the mosque of the most ornate Islamic places of worship in the country. The minaret is comparatively low. It is in the southwest corner.

The mosque was declared a cultural monument in 1961 in Albania.