Mirahori Mosque, Historic mosque in Korçë, Albania.
The Mirahori Mosque displays Ottoman architectural elements with a square layout measuring approximately 11.75 meters on each side, topped by a large copper-covered dome and accompanied by an adjacent porch featuring three smaller domes.
The mosque's foundation inscription dates its construction to 1494–95, commissioned by Iljaz bej Mirahori, a Korça-born official under Sultan Bayezid II who also founded the town. According to Sami Frashëri it rose on the foundations of a monastery then dedicated to Saint Paraskevi. The present inscription is a five-line Ottoman verse text carved in 1872/73, replacing an older one that was not preserved.
As a designated Cultural Monument of Albania, the mosque represents the Islamic architectural heritage within the predominantly Orthodox Christian country and serves as a symbol of the diverse religious history that shaped the Balkans.
Located at coordinates 40.615908, 20.775386 in central Korçë, the mosque operates during daylight hours with visitors required to remove shoes and women to cover their heads in accordance with Islamic tradition.
The minaret was first damaged by Greek and French forces up to 1917, then lost in an earthquake in the early 1960s, and rebuilt after 2006. The 1494–95 construction date comes from an inscription above the entrance, itself a 1872/73 replacement for a lost original carved in Ottoman verse.
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