Gazi Husrev-beg's Mosque

The Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque (Bosnian: "Gazi Husrev-begova Džamija", Turkish: "Gazi Hüsrev Bey Camii"), often referred to as "the Beg's Mosque", is a mosque in the city of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is considered the most important Islamic structures in the country and one of the world's finest examples of Ottoman Architecture. It is located in the Baščaršija neighborhood in the Stari Grad municipality, and remains one of the most popular centers of worship in the city.

The mosque was financed in 1531 by Gazi Husrev-beg, the provincial governor of Bosnia. Husrev-beg is widely considered Sarajevo's greatest patron, as he financed much of Sarajevo's old city at this time.

The Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque was built by the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, who would later go on to build the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne for the Sultan Selim I.

Gazi Husrev-beg also built the same mosque called Hüsreviye Mosque in Aleppo, Syria, between 1531 and 1534.

Destruction and reconstruction

During the Siege of Sarajevo, Serbian forces purposely targeted many centers of the city's culture because the Muslims used them as sniper nests and fired from them at large, such as museums, libraries, and mosques. As the largest and most well known, the Beg's mosque was an obvious target. Heavily damaged in the war, it was renovated in 1996 with foreign help. Haverford College Professor Michael A. Sells has accused the renovators (whose money came in large part from Saudi Arabia) of Wahhabizing the mosque; Prior to reconstruction, the interior was far more intricate, as seen on the right, but today the walls are simply white, much of the detail, artistry, and color taken out. [ [http://www.theturkishtimes.com/archive/02/01_15/culture.html Erasing Culture: Wahhabism & Balkan Mosques] ] Complete restoration and re-painting of mosque began in 2000. It has been done mainly by Hazim Numanagić, a Bosnian calligrapher.

References

ee also

*Timeline of Islamic history
*Islamic architecture
*Islamic art
*List of mosques