The great dome
Four minarets.
Shkelzen A. Rexha — CC0 · Brojaa2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sharon Hahn Darlin — CC BY 2.0 · Steffen Schmitz (more photos) — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pobl02 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yastay — CC BY 4.0 · Yastay — CC BY 4.0 · CivArmy — CC BY 4.0
Tirana's great mosque, known as the Namazgah Mosque after the old prayer ground it stands beside, and the largest mosque in the Balkans, with room for some ten thousand worshippers. Its first stone was laid in 1992, real construction began in 2015 with about €30 million in funding, partly from Turkey's religious affairs directorate, and it officially opened on 10 October 2024. Before it, many worshippers had to pray the Friday prayer in the streets for lack of space. It is built in Ottoman style, with a great central dome ringed by smaller ones, four slender minarets and a wide courtyard with arcades and an ablution fountain; inside, the ceiling is painted in blues and reds, with large chandeliers. Visitors are welcome outside prayer times in modest dress, with women covering their hair and shoes left at the door. It is a short walk from Skanderbeg Square.
Four minarets.
And arcades.
Inside.
Near the Parliament, central Tirana
Pyramid of TiranaA pyramid-shaped building of concrete and glass in central Tirana, opened in 1985 minutes walk4.1
Et'hem Bey MosqueA small historic mosque on Skanderbeg Square, begun by Molla Bey around 1791 and6 minutes walk4.5
Skanderbeg SquareThe main square at the heart of Tirana, named after the Albanian national hero S7 minutes walk4.4It officially opened on 10 October 2024; it holds about ten thousand worshippers and is the largest mosque in the Balkans.