Great Mosque of Tirana

The Great Mosque of Tirana (Albanian: Xhamia e Madhe e Tiranës) or Namazgâh Mosque (Xhamia e Namazgjasë) is a mosque which is currently being built in Tirana, capital of Albania. When completed, it will be the largest mosque in the Balkans.

History

After the fall of communism in Albania, in 1991, Albanian Muslims often have complained about being discriminated: While two cathedrals for Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox were built, as of 2016 the Moslem Albanians still have no central mosque and have to pray on the streets. In 1992, then president, Sali Berisha, laid the first stone of a mosque to be constructed near Namazgja square, close to the parliament, however construction was never completed after the speaker of parliament, Pjetër Arbnori, a Catholic, contested the plans.

The decision of building the mosque was taken in 2010, by then mayor of Tirana, Edi Rama.

The building of the mosque is considered necessary because there are already 114 churches but only 8 mosques (from 28 in 1967). During Islamic holidays, the Skanderbeg Square is filled with Moslem worshippers, because the Ethem Bey mosque has a capacity of only 60 persons. Rain makes Friday sermons impossible.

The mosque is foreseen to have four minarets of 50 m high, while the central dome will have a height of 30 meters. The first floor of the mosque will include a cultural center and other facilities. The mosque is being constructed on a 10,000-square-meter parcel of land near Albania's parliament building and will have the capacity for up to 4,500 people to pray at one time within the mosque.

The financing for the mosque's construction comes from the main state run Turkish Muslim organisation Diyanet. In 2015, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Albania for the inauguration ceremony.

External links

• Official Website (Albanian and English)