Lead Mosque Endangered By The Floods

The last days’ floods in Northern Albania are seriously endangering the Lead Mosque. Situated near Drini River, it appears to be “unlucky” in many ways. The river seems to have caused the land around the mosque to rise and what used to be an elevated mosque now is on the ground level. Also, many people have built houses nearby which appears to have caused blockage in the draining of rainwater and the mosque is often surrounded by pools of water. Hence, every time it rains, water level reaches almost 80 cm on the wall of the mosque, damaging whatever that is left from it. And as it’s not enough, lead is being stolen from its roof.
Built towards the end of the 1700’s, this is one of the few mosques that were not destroyed around 1967, when Enver Hoxha’s communist government declared Albania an “atheistic country” and banned all religious meetings and literature.
Once in the heart of Shkodra’s old bazaar area, the Lead Mosque (named after the material used on the roof) was built in 1773 by Mehmet Pasha Bushati, and was inspired by the great Sultan Ahmed mosque in Istanbul. It’s year of birth is also confirmed by the carved writing on the main door of the mosques that says: “Year 1187 AH is the date of construction of the grand mosque of Mehmet Pasha, God of charities. The year 1280 is the date of repair of the mosque of her guardian Mahmut Barber”. Respectively, these two dates the Islamic calendar, coincide with the years 1773 and 1863.
In the 18th and 19th century the Kiri and Drini rivers changed their course and flooded the old bazaar so often that the area was abandoned for a safer spot in Shkodra’s current location. The Lead Mosque is all that remains, standing like an Indian palace in a small lake. The minaret was destroyed by lightning in 1967, the same year as the cultural revolution that lead to the pulling down of many other religious buildings, but the mosques was left in peace until it was restored recently and the building’s courtyard and beautiful domes were in reasonable condition.
What is noteworthy about the life of the mosque, besides it being a typical rare Turkish-Arab cult institution, indicative of the high level of prosperity of the Tabak old neighborhood on the second half of the 18th century, is the sad story of its lead dome, which more than once has become target of theft.
Historical data
In the studies of the history of Albanian Islamic architecture, this mosque belongs to the third period with time limits from the second half of 18th century to early 19th century. During this period a considerable number of monumental buildings across the country were build. It is characterized by the increasing economic role of urban centers, the formation of local feudal class, and the flourishing of Islamic culture in Albania.
It is during this time that the local architectural tradition shifts towards the building of mosques with dome. This model gave the opportunity for variations in spatial dimensions. The Lead Mosque is representative of this special type of mosques. It reflects the classical Ottoman style model carried out in Istanbul by architect Sinan in the 16th century. It also symbolizes the cultural and economic power of its builder, Mehmet Pasha who aimed to give brightness to his native city with this monument.
For its precious historical and artistic values, the Lead Mosque has been declared cultural monument. Damaged by time, it expects a full restoration intervention and evaluation.