Painted Mosque
Ottoman mosque beside the Pena river, covered inside and out with painted floral and architectural panels.
The Painted Mosque, known locally as Sarena Dzamija or Aladza Dzamija, stands on the right bank of the Pena river in the old quarter of Tetovo. Sources date the first building to 1438, while the structure seen today was largely rebuilt in 1833 at the expense of Abdurrahman Pasha. A walled garden holds a hexagonal turbe said to contain the tombs of two sisters, Hurshida and Mensure, who are named in tradition as the founders of the earlier mosque.
Its reputation rests on the painted decoration that covers almost every surface. More than thirty thousand small panels in ochre, green and blue carry flowers in vases, geometric frames and views of buildings and landscapes, a style rarely found in Ottoman religious architecture. The prayer hall is a single square chamber without the usual dome, roofed in timber, with a carved wooden gallery and mihrab. The mosque remains in use and is protected as a cultural monument of exceptional importance.
Highlights
- Painted panels covering the facades and prayer hall
- Rebuilt in 1833 under Abdurrahman Pasha
- Hexagonal turbe of Hurshida and Mensure in the garden
- Timber roof and carved gallery in place of a dome
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
![[Golestan, Le Salon et Fete de l'equinode, Teheran, Iran (le Pavillion du Trone)]](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/-Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg/500px--Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg)
![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
