The most beautiful mosques to visit 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.