Et'hem Bey Mosque

Construction was started in 1791 or 1794 by Molla Bey and it was finished in 1819 or 1821 by his son Haxhi Ethem Bey, grand-grandson of Sulejman Pasha.[1][2]

At the time it was built it was part of complex buildings that compose the historical center of Tirana. In front of the mosque was the old Bazaar, in east the Sulejman Pasha Mosque, which was built in 1614 and destroyed during World War II, and in the north-west the Karapici mosque.[3]

During the totalitarianism of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, the mosque was closed; it was declared a historical monument and underwent restorations in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[4] On January 18, 1991, despite opposition from communist authorities, 10,000 people entered the mosque carrying flags. This was at the onset of the fall of communism in Albania.[5] The event was a milestone in the rebirth of religious freedom in Albania.

The Mosque today, consists of an architectural complex together with the Clock Tower of Tirana. Tours of the mosque are given daily, though not during prayer service.[6] Visitors must take their shoes off before entering the inner room.

^ H.T.Norris (1993), Islam in the Balkans: Religion and Society Between Europe and the Arab World, University of South Carolina Press, pp. 77–78, ISBN 9780872499775, OCLC 28067651 ^ M. Cavendish, World and Its Peoples page 1629 ^ "Mosque of Ethem Beu". Archived from the original on 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2016-09-30. ^ Adhami, Stilian (March 1970). "Past Values Preservation Institute". New Albania. XXIV (3): 33–35. ^ Anthony Clunies Ross, Petar Sudar, Albania's economy in transition and turmoil, 1990-97, 1998, page 57 ^ Europe on a shoestring By Sarah Johnstone Page 59 ([1])