Sinan Pasha Mosque

The Sinan Pasha Mosque, built in 1615, dominates the old bazaar quarter with its enormous lead-covered dome and slender minaret. It is the most architecturally distinguished building in Prizren — the dome sits harmoniously on the square mass of the building, and the proportions recall the great Ottoman mosques of Istanbul on a reduced scale.

The interior is open to visitors outside prayer times. The walls are decorated with geometric designs and vivid painted draperies; the light filtered through the high windows gives the interior a serene, slightly otherworldly quality. The courtyard contains an Ottoman-era fountain and provides a quiet retreat from the bazaar outside.

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A story
During the Kosovo War of 1998–99, the mosque was used as a refuge by Albanian civilians fleeing Serbian forces. After the war, when Serb inhabitants fled, the Church of Our Lady of Ljevis nearby was burned and damaged — a reprisal that brought international condemnation and led to UNESCO listing the church as endangered. Sinan Pasha Mosque was spared; its survival in a city where intercommunal violence left so many wounds makes it an uncomfortable but important symbol of what was preserved and what was not.