Muradie Mosque

The Muradie Mosque is a compact, nearly square building with a prayer hall measuring 10 by 11 meters. The walls, about 8 meters high, are laid in alternating courses of stone and brick – this striped masonry, characteristic of the Sinan school, creates a pronounced decorative effect in red and white. Above the hall rises a twelve-sided drum topped by a dome roughly 10 m high, clad in dark red tiles.

An 18-meter carved stone minaret adjoins the western wall. Three walls (all except the northern) are pierced by three pointed arches with windows that admit soft light. The mosque originally had a portico (hajat), which has not survived. The interior is plain – painted decoration has been lost, except for the mihrab (the niche indicating the direction of Mecca).

An old well stands in the courtyard. Roads surround the mosque on all four sides, allowing visitors to walk around the building and examine the masonry and minaret from every angle. The atmosphere is quiet – far fewer visitors than at the larger mosques of Tirana or Shkodra.

Architect – attributed to Mimar Sinan, creator of Istanbul's Süleymaniye Mosque

Age – built 1537–1542, one of Albania's oldest mosques

Masonry – alternating stone and brick courses create a distinctive striped pattern

Minaret – 18 meters tall, carved stone, visible from several points in the city center

Status – designated Cultural Monument of Albania; survived the communist era as an architecture museum

The mosque was erected between 1537 and 1542 by order of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in honor of his predecessor Murad II. One theory holds that Sinan converted an earlier Byzantine church (11th–13th century) into a mosque, adding the minaret and dome structure. The mosque formed part of a fortress complex Suleiman built near Vlora's port to guard the Adriatic coast. During the Ottoman period, Vlora served as a sanjak center, and the mosque was its principal place of worship.

In 1967, Enver Hoxha's communist regime declared Albania "the world's first atheist state." Mosques and churches across the country were closed or demolished. The Muradie Mosque escaped destruction by being repurposed as the Architecture Museum of the Vlora district. After communism fell in the 1990s, the mosque was returned to the Muslim community. Today it functions both as an active mosque and a protected cultural monument.

From central Vlora:

From Flag Square – 300 m south along Ismail Qemali Boulevard (5-minute walk)

From the Independence Museum – 200 m

From the seafront – 7-minute walk

From Tirana (150 km, 2.5–3 hours):

– Bus to Vlora – 500–700 ALL (≈ €5–7 / $6–8), then a 5-minute walk from the bus station

– Car rental – look for street parking on side roads

Season: Year-round. The mosque is worth viewing in any weather.

Time of day: Morning (9:00–11:00 AM) or early afternoon (2:00–4:00 PM) – between prayers. Avoid prayer times (schedules vary by season).

Duration: 15–20 minutes for the exterior and prayer hall.

Avoid: Friday prayer (around 1:00 PM) – the mosque is closed to tourists.