Things to see and do Tetovo

Located along the Pena River, this superb ^19th-century mosque (Шарена Џамија/Šarena Džamija, Xhamia e Larme) is a rarity in Islamic architecture: its exterior and interior walls are adorned with rich, brightly-colored decoration. In the Balkans, only the Colorful Mosque in Travnik (1817), Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Et'hem Bey Mosque in Tirana (1823), Albania, preserve comparable frescoes. Here, the mosque is modest in size (10 x 10 m) and preceded by a five-arched porch. It was built in 1833, on the site of an earlier "colored" mosque dating from 1495, of which only the 28 m-high minaret remains. It was commissioned by the region's governor, Abdurrahman Pacha. This Albanian patron of the arts, a follower of Bektashism, was the son of Rexhep Pacha, the governor who enlarged the Arabati-Baba tekké. To decorate "his" mosque, Abdurrahman Pacha called on craftsmen from the Debar region, renowned for its iconostasis sculptors and church painters. It is said that 30,000 egg yolks were needed to make the paint and varnish for the decorations.

Star of the Mahdi. The outer walls each feature some 30 rectangular panels painted with geometric and arabesque motifs. The façade has fewer painted panels and more arabesques. The porch features a large six-pointed star, rather than the classical five-pointed one representing the five pillars of Islam. This is the symbol of the Mahdi, the "Saviour" awaited by all Muslims, but whose belief is more widespread among Bektashis (and Shiites) than among traditionalist Sunnis. Inside, the six-pointed star can be found in various places. The mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca) and minbar (pulpit) are carved marble and painted in a baroque style. On the porch side, the upper part of the wall is open with three corbelled balconies, also in Baroque style. The walls are decorated with floral and geometric motifs, Arabic calligraphy and landscapes depicting Muslim buildings. Among the latter is a representation, extremely rare if not unique in a mosque, of the Prophet's tomb in Mecca. The carved wooden dome is adorned with twelve medallions representing six floral compositions and six mosques in the Tetovo region. Last but not least, note the ^18th-century wooden clock with a mechanism indicating the (variable) prayer times.

This vast Ottoman-period tekké (Арабати Баба Теќе/Arabati Baba Teḱe, Teqeja e Baba Harabatit) belongs to the brotherhood of the bektashis, the most tolerant branch of Sufi Islam. The complex, which resembles a fortified camp, extends over 26,700 m². It boasts a magnificent garden, a dozen classical Ottoman-style buildings and around a hundred tombs of dervishes and followers of Bektashism. It was founded in 1538 by the Turkish dervish master Sersem Ali Baba. But it bears the name of his disciple and successor, Arabati Baba. It was he who undertook the expansion of the tekké after the death of his master in 1549. Out of humility, these two great theologians and poets adopted ridiculous sobriquets: in Turkish sersem means "madman" or "fool" and harabati is derived from the ancient Arabic arābātat, meaning "drunkard". It was from this tekké that the humanistic precepts of the bektashis spread to the Albanian-speaking populations of the Balkans. However, the complex took on its current appearance between 1799 and 1820 under Rexhep Pasha. An adept of Bektashism, this Albanian governor of the Tetovo region undertook major renovations.

Welcoming dervishes and intimidating bearded men. Rexhep Pacha's original intention was to house his daughter Fatima, who was suffering from tuberculosis, so that she could breathe the pure air of the Šar Mountains. Thanks to his patronage, the complex continued to flourish, attracting ever more dervishes, scholars, poets, pilgrims and donors. When the bektashis became too influential at the sultan's court and were expelled from present-day Turkey, the brotherhood transferred its headquarters to the Arabati-Baba tekké in 1826. When the Ottomans left in 1912, the headquarters were finally transferred to Tirana, Albania, where they remain today. Since 1912, the tekké has suffered a long decline. Closed down by the Yugoslav socialist authorities in 1945, it fell victim to arson in 1948, before being transformed into a tourist complex in the 1960s with a restaurant, hotel and even, for a time, a discotheque. After independence and another fire in 1992, it was finally returned to the Bektashis in 1994. But since 2002, part of the complex has been occupied by a group of Sunni Islamists who consider the Bektashis to be "heretics". Fortunately, a visit is still possible. But it can be a little strange, with welcoming, peaceful dervishes on one side, and sometimes intimidating fundamentalist bearded men on the other.

This museum houses temporary exhibitions of contemporary art and the archaeological discoveries of the region. The emblematic illyrienne statuette of the Menada goddess is however at the national museum in Skopje.

Opened in 1991, this private museum (Музеј Џепчиште/Džepčište Muzej, Muzeu i Xhepçishtit) bills itself as "the smallest ethnological museum in the world". Its owner, retired architect and collector Simeon Zlatev, known as Mone, exhibits around 1,150 objects from the ^8th to the ^20th century in a 7.2^m2 room: his mother's wedding dress, weapons, tools, traditional costumes, coins and more. There's only enough room for one visitor at a time. A 9^m2 room serves as a storeroom.