Lead Mosque, Ottoman mosque in Mangalem Quarter, Berat, Albania.

The Lead Mosque is a mosque in Mangalem Quarter featuring a distinctive lead-covered dome and a slender minaret rising from its northern portico in decorative cloisonné style. The structure has a square prayer hall that opens to the space through numerous windows.

Completed in 961 AH (1553/1554) by Ahmet Bej Uzgurliu, a local noble linked to the Skuraj family, the mosque rose as Berat became an administrative and religious centre under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Evliya Çelebi recorded a complex with bazaar, madrasa, imaret, school, hammam and shadirvan. TIKA restored it in 2014, slightly modernising the minaret balcony.

The mosque demonstrates how Ottoman architects designed a prayer hall with many windows that flood the interior with light, and visitors notice the sturdy uniformly cut stone walls throughout. The space feels open and bright, reflecting the care taken in its construction.

The mosque stands in the centre of Berat, within the historic quarters inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Its minaret balcony was slightly altered during the 2014 restoration by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA). Approach on foot through the old town lanes; the entrance is through the northern portico.

The original complex around the building contained not just the prayer house but also shops, a school for Islamic studies, a public kitchen, a bathhouse, and a fountain, as documented by traveler Evliya Celebi. This broader ensemble reveals how deeply the mosque was woven into daily urban life.