Aslan Pasha Mosque

Ioannina, Greece

The prayer hall is square in plan and covered by a high hemispherical dome, supported on pendentives at the corners of the walls. An open portico runs along the western side of the hall, with marble columns reused from an unidentified early Christian or Byzantine church. A colonnaded portico, originally open but now closed in by a low walls pierced with large windows, runs around the western, southern, and northern sides. The southern portico sits over six deep stone vaults with stone basins used for ablutions.

In in the interior, the mosque's original painted and carved decoration is well-preserved. The mihrab is at the east end of the hall and has muqarnas decoration and polychrome patterns. The stone minbar stands near the mihrab and retains its intricate painted decoration. The central medallion of the dome is intricately painted, and a small band of plaster stalactites runs around the dome's base, with similar decoration in the corners of the hall, and elaborate painting surrounding the windows. A wooden balcony is on the west side of the hall, supported on two marble columns and reached by a stone staircase in the southeast corner that also leads to the minaret.

A cemetery surrounds the mosque. To its east is an eight-sided mausoleum sometimes attributed to Ali Pasha but mostly likely belonging to Aslan Pasha. Ornate painted decoration remains extant in the interior.

The Archaeological Service was formerly housed in the mosque and madrasa, and since 1930 the mosque has served as the Municipal Museum of Ioannina. The mosque is in good condition, and has had various repairs and stablizations over the years, including a replacement of the roof in 1986 and replacement of roof tiles ca. 2008.