Hysen Pasha Mosque, Ottoman mosque in Berat, Albania.
Hysen Pasha Mosque, also called the Clock Mosque, stands in Berat's old town as a Cultural Monument of Albania and part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastër. Completed in 1670, it was rebuilt after partial destruction around 1967, when only the minaret remained.
Hysen Pasha Mosque was completed in 1670 by Hussein Pasha. In 1870 the Ottomans added a clock tower beside it, giving the building its second name, Clock Mosque. Under Enver Hoxha's communist rule the mosque was demolished around 1967, leaving only the minaret, and the clock tower was destroyed too. Renovation followed after communism ended, around 1991.
The mosque's second name, Clock Mosque (Xhamia e Sahatit), comes from the Ottoman clock tower built beside it in 1870; that tower was demolished in 1967. The building is a Cultural Monument of Albania and part of the Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastër, inscribed by UNESCO in 2005.
The mosque stands in Berat's old town, within the UNESCO-listed historic centre designated in 2005. Visitors should dress modestly and avoid entering during prayer; the minaret, the only part left after the 1967 destruction, is the landmark to look for when approaching through the narrow streets.
The mosque is also called the Clock Mosque because the Ottomans added a clock tower beside it in 1870; that tower was demolished in 1967, and the Turkish sources record its rebuilding in 1994. The minaret was the only part of the mosque left standing after the Communist-era destruction, and the building was later renovated around it.
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