The Imperial Mosque, also known as King's Mosque, is an Ottoman

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

located in

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. It was built in 1461 by

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Mehmed the Conqueror Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

. The inscription written in Arabic alphabet in six rows which is situated in the entry portal as the exact date of construction provides the year 1461, according to the Gregorian calendar, i.e. Hijra 865 year according to the Islamic calendar. Based on the monument, structure, construction way and decorative elements it ranks among the most important buildings of Islamic architecture in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

History

The mosque was built as a dominating building on the landscape of Prishtina. During the Austro-Turkish wars, at the end of the 17th century, it was temporarily turned into a

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. One of the most prominent

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n writers, Pjetër Bogdani, also an active leader of the pro-Austrian rebels, was buried here. After the Ottomans regained control, in 1690, the bones of Pjetër Bogdani were exhumed and thrown into the street by the Ottoman soldiers. It underwent restoration between 1682-83 during the reign of Sultan Mehmed IV, and centuries later following the 1955 earthquake. The monument was declared to be under state protection by the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in 1953 as it was in poor condition. Partial conservation efforts were conducted between 1955 and 1990. In 2004, further restoration studies and plans were prepared by a specialized team from Turkey which were approved by the cultural heritage authorities of Kosovo and Turkey in 2006.

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{{Mosques in Kosovo Mosques in Kosovo Buildings and structures in Pristina Religious buildings and structures in Pristina Buildings and structures completed in 1461 Mosques completed in the 1460s Ottoman mosques in Kosovo 1460s establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1461 establishments in Asia 1461 establishments in Europe

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