MOSQUE KËRËK

This strange roofless mosque (Kërëk xhamia, Kirik džamija) was the first to be erected in Prizren around 1455. In Albanian, its name means "broken mosque" and it is also called Namazxhah Mosque, a term derived from the Persian word namazgah, which means "place of prayer". Although it has a half-wall for the mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca), a staircase leading to the minbar (lectern), and a small minaret 5.5 m high, it was never completed. As soon as more elaborate mosques were built in the city, this site was abandoned.