Kapllan Pasha Tomb, Ottoman monument in central Tirana, Albania
Kapllan Pasha Tomb is a small open octagonal türbe of pale carved stone, about 5 m in circumference, standing on a stepped base. Eight single-piece columns 4 m tall, with octagonal capitals and plant reliefs, carry arches; the structure is now roofless, though it may once have had a roof. A partly legible inscription on one column names Kaplan Toptani and the year 1326 of the Muslim calendar.
Kaplan Pasha of the Toptani family, ruler of Tirana, died in 1816; the tomb was built in 1817, though one source dates it to around 1820–1830. It belonged to the monumental burial complex of the Sulejman Pasha Mosque, destroyed in World War II along with six other tombs. Albania designated it a first-category Cultural Monument by law no. 609 of 24 May 1948, and the Municipality of Tirana restored it in 1985.
The name honours Kaplan Pasha of the Toptani family, ruler of Tirana in the early 19th century, who died in 1816. A partly legible inscription on one column names Kaplan Toptani and gives the year 1326 of the Muslim calendar. The eight columns carry reliefs with plant motifs, and the tomb stood among six similar tombs of different sizes.
The tomb is located along Rruga 28 Nëntori street in the city center and is easily reached on foot. Visitors can approach it year-round without any advance preparation needed.
On one column a partly legible inscription names Kaplan Toptani and gives the year 1326 in the Muslim calendar, corresponding to the early 20th century. The tomb once stood with six other tombs of similar form but different sizes, all destroyed in the World War II bombing that also levelled the Sylejman Pasha Mosque. Since 2006 the TID Tower has risen beside it, its curved wall partly enclosing and overhanging the canopy.
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