White Mosque, Ottoman mosque in Berat Castle, Albania

The White Mosque, also called Ak Mesxhid or the Sultan Bayezid II Mosque, is a ruined mosque inside Berat Castle. Of the small, roughly square building, about 1-metre-high foundation walls and the base of the minaret, a little over 2 metres high, remain, built of white limestone.

The White Mosque was built in 1417 with white limestone, making it one of Albania's oldest mosques. It was destroyed in the 19th century after a local uprising against the Ottoman Tanzimat reforms, and it was left untended after 1967 under Enver Hoxha's atheistic regime. It was designated a Cultural Monument of Albania in 1961.

The mosque is ruined: only about a metre of foundation wall and a minaret base a little over two metres high remain. After 1967, under Enver Hoxha's atheistic regime, the prayer ground and congregation area were turned into a football pitch, still in use.

The mosque is a ruin inside Berat Castle: only foundation walls about 1 metre high and the minaret base a little over 2 metres remain, so there is no interior to enter and no dress code. Sturdy footwear helps on the uneven ground, and the site is reached on foot through the old town.

The mosque was built of white limestone in 1417, which gave it its name. After its minaret collapsed, the prayer ground and congregation area were used as a football pitch, and they still serve that purpose today.