// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Saranda Mosque wall say? I'm praying for support.
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The Mosque of Saranda (Albanian: Xhamia e Sarandës) is a historic mosque built during the era of the Albanian Kingdom in the Southern Albanian town of Saranda. The sherefe and hajat (portico), have been replaced since its construction. It is the only mosque that survived in the city after the destruction of Islamic heritage during the Communist dictatorship under Enver Hoxha.
The mosque was built around 1935 with the contribution of the sisters of King Ahmed Zogu I. It is a combination of the rationalism of the time with elements of local Islamic architecture. It managed to survive the communist revolutionary-cultural destructions of the 1960s. As part of the People's Republic of Albania's policies, a number of Muslim Albanians were settled from northern Albania in the area and local Christians are no longer the only community in Saranda. Today, the main part of the building is preserved from the original.[1]
The minaret was rebuilt in a simple and cheap style after 1991. Due to increased construction in the area, the mosque is more obscured than it originally was, with the minaret often being the only visible part. In recent times, the entrance area has been added and the upper mahfil has been expanded.
Footnotes
[edit]- ↑ Giakoumis, Georgios K. (1996). Monuments of Orthodoxy in Albania. Doukas School. p. 148. ISBN 9789607203090.
The Beautiful harbour of Ayii Saranda... In this harbour stood the church of Saint Spyridon, which was demolished under Enver Hoxha. A temporary wooden hut-shrine was erected in its place in 1991. The locals have laid claim to the site in order to rebuild their church. This is not a straightforward matter, however, because the inhabitants of the town are no longer exclusively Christians. Under the settlement policy pursued by Hoxha, thousands of Muslims were transferred from the north of Albania in order to alter the ethnic composition of the region.
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