Karadzozbey Mosque, Ottoman mosque in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Karadzozbey Mosque is a structure in central Mostar with a large dome carried by eight arches and resting on an octagonal drum base. The interior displays elaborate geometric patterns and inscriptions that decorate the walls and vaults throughout.
An Arabic foundation inscription records that Mehmed Beg, brother of a vizier, commissioned the mosque in 965 AH (1557/1558). Some scholars link the vizier to Grand Vizier Rustem Pasha, though he is documented with only one brother, Sinan Pasha. The design may be by Mimar Sinan; it was severely damaged in World War II and again in the 1990s war, then rebuilt and reopened in July 2004.
Four painted layers survive inside, from 16th-century arabesques to late Ottoman baroque, renewed roughly every 100 to 150 years; the youngest, a 1909 stencil scheme, was cleaned off in 1990 to reveal the older work. The motifs — fig, pomegranate, cypress, flowers, grapes — match the Herzegovinian landscape, suggesting a local painter.
The building is located in downtown Mostar and is accessible to visitors outside prayer times. Check prayer schedules beforehand to plan your visit more effectively.
The minaret has 94 stone steps and two separate entrances; its šerefe balcony sits 24.37 metres up and is decorated with stalactite carving. The shaft is a fourteen-sided stone prism, and the whole tower reaches 34.5 metres to the finial.
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