Mustafa Pasha Mosque
Skopje, Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of

The Mustafa Pasha Mosque is one of the grandest examples of Islamic architecture in the Balkans. According to an inscription above the entrace, it was built in 1492/848 AH by Mustafa Pasha, a prominent Ottoman patron.

The mosque was once part of a complex consisting of the mosque, a caravanserai, a madrasa, an imaret (soup kitchen), a mekteb, and a türbe. Today, only the mosque, türbe, and the stone sarcophagus of Umi, one of Mustafa Pasha's daughters, remains. The mosque is built of stone, brick, and lime mortar and is square in plan, 20 m x 20 m, with a single dome and slender minaret. A porch supported by four marble columns with three pointed arches spans the north side of the mosque, with three small domes. The entrance facade features a monumental entrance portal. Interior decorations feature mostly vegetal motifs.

The türbe of Mustafa Pasha, built 1519/925 AH is located on the east side of the mosque complex, near an elaborately-decorated sarcophagus believed to belong to Umi, one of Mustafa Pasha's daughters.

Sources:

Cost Action C26, and Federico M. Mazzolani. Urban habitat constructions under catastrophic events, 422. Leiden: CRC Press, 2010.

Haemus. "Mustafa Pasha Mosque." Accessed March 9, 2015. http://haemus.org.mk/mustafa-pasha-mosque/.

"Skopje." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed March 9, 2015http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T079129.

Location

Skopje, Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of

Images & Videos

Associated Names

Events

1492/898 AH

Style Periods

1299-1922

Variant Names

Mustafa Pasa Mosque
Variant

Site Types

religious

Materials/Techniques