Et'hem Bey Mosque

Tirana, Albania

The Et'hem Bey Mosque is an 18th-century mosque located in the center of the Albanian capital Tirana. Closed under communist rule, the mosque reopened as a house of worship in 1991, without permission from the authorities. 10,000 people attended and the police did not interfere. Frescoes outside and in the portico depict trees, waterfalls and bridges – motifs rarely seen in Islamic art.