Tetovo

Photographer's Note

‘Tetovo’s Painted Mosque - 1’

For a change, I'm moving to another European country.
This with pictures of one of the most beautiful mosques I ever saw. Not the biggest, not the most expensive, but still a very special one. For me one of the most beautiful mosques.

You don't have to go to the Middle East or further into Asia for it.
In the heart of the Balkans in the country that has recently been renamed North Macedonia.
In the northwest (less than an hour's drive from the capital) is the country's third largest city: Tetovo (in Macedonian: Тетово, in Albanian: Tetovë)
The majority of the inhabitants are Albanian. Macedonians make up the second largest group.

Šarena Džamija is the name of the mosque.
That means ‘Decorated Mosque’ but often it is translated as ‘Painted Mosque’.
With its elegant and elaborate decorations, the Šarena Džamija is one of the rare Ottoman-era historical structures in North Macedonia.

It was originally built in 1438 and later rebuilt in 1833.
The mosque owes its name to the countless painted panels that cover the facades.
More than 30.000 eggs were needed to develop the binder contained in the paint.
The panels were completely restored in 2010 and 2011.

Photos of the Šarena Džamija were previously shown on TE, but the last one dates from 6 years ago.
If I’m not mistaken, this mosque isn’t yet on the palmares of Malgo, Chris or Gert who once shared photos of North Macedonia.

If you don't look at the WS, you'll miss a lot of beauty :)

ikeharel, jhm, holmertz, jean113, pajaran, Fis2, PiotrF, pierrefonds, worldcitizen, NickVu, jemaflor, clic, adramad, mcmtanyel ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

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ikeharel (113353) 2021-11-18 10:54

Good evening Paul,
Wonderful decoration in a returning patterns. Tiles from a different artwork, well shown.
Best regards,
Ike

Tue (92370) 2021-11-18 11:16

Hallo Paul,
Een prachtige foto van deze rijk versierde oude moskee. De verschillende kleuren en patronen op de muren zijn prachtig en de minaret steekt er mooi bovenuit. Het licht en de blauwe lucht met witte wolken zorgden voor perfecte omstandigheden.
Lars

lousat (139286) 2021-11-18 11:23

Hi Paul,recently restored to see the great show till in your days. Fantastic mosque, i never seen nothing like that, looks like a big card game watching its facades. Great full view and 2 useful WS too,the ceiling too is amazing! Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

holmertz (102708) 2021-11-18 11:32

Hello Paul,
Having been to Macedonia just a few years ago, with a digital camera, and only until now posting one single photo, you will now be able to stay in this country for several weeks.

As far as I remember the bus that brought me from Skopje to Ohrid went just outside Tetovo. I was rather anxious to reach Albania and had no plans to stop here. Seeing this remarkable mosque I am a bit sorry for having been in such a hurry.

Considering that this really looks like it was built with a deck of cards it's surprising it hasn't fallen down even after so many years. It is a remarkable mosque, quite unlike any I have ever seen. Beautiful? Hmmm. Original and picturesque? Absolutely! But 30.000 eggs! Wasn't that a waste of good food?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Malgo's latest journey to several countries brought her to Tetovo. We may expect another photo of this mosque within the next couple of days.
Best regards,
Gert

jhm (211736) 2021-11-18 11:33

Goedenavond Paul,

Heel mooie foto maar niet de moskee dat wij kennen qua architectuur.
Hoe dan ook uw hoek is heel mooi gekozen, waardoor we beide gevels goed kunnen zien.
Kleuren zijn goed, niet het cyaan van de vorige foto's in de dreef.
Goede samenstelling mooi gepresenteerd. Bedankt.

Groeten uit Oost-Vlaanderen,
John.

Silvio1953 (221627) 2021-11-18 11:51

Ciao Paul, great perspective on fantastic mosque, superb sky, fine details, excellent sharpness, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

pajaran (115911) 2021-11-18 12:11

Pozdrav.

lep pogled i trenutak, intereantan i dobar tekst ...
lepa arhitekura i detalji, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom, perspektivom i uhvacenim trenutkom sa oblacima koji dolaze na plavom nebu.
Dobar rad sa lepim fotografijama u radionici.
Lepa Sarena dzamija i minaret.

Zelim vam lepu i mirnu noc, sve najbolje.
Paja

jean113 (27879) 2021-11-18 12:13

Hello Paul, three excellent pictures of this most unusual mosque. I agree with you about the patterns of the panels, very reminiscent of the reverse of a pack of playing cards.
Without the minaret, we might not have guessed that it was a mosque.
Thank you for the information, all very interesting.
This is a part of the world that I know very little about.
Kind regards, Jean.

Fis2 (170779) 2021-11-18 13:12

Witaj Paul!
A very curious set of photos.
Interesting building, wonderful details.
Good frames, colors and sharpness.
TFS.
Well done.
Good evening.
Krzysztof

PiotrF (54698) 2021-11-18 16:20

Hello Paul
Interesting view of colorful Mosque.Picture with good composition and nice colours. Interesting photos in WS.
Beautiful work.
Fine presentation
Regards
Piotr

pierrefonds (114470) 2021-11-18 16:49

Bonsoir Paul,

La Mosquée est impressionnante. La prise de vue permet de voir les détails de la Mosquée de Tetovo. La qualité de la lumière embellit les couleurs de l'image. Bonne soirée.

Pierre

worldcitizen (16072) 2021-11-18 17:34

Hello Paul,
This mosque is definitely an artistic masterpiece. The ceiling is amazing, too. I wonder how many artists it took to finish all the panels; thanks to your note we know how many eggs were used. ;-) Take care!

ifege (48111) 2021-11-18 19:53

Hi Paul
A pity that TE hasn't caught up with the country's name change.
A very different mosque! A good interesting photo.
cheers
Ian

jemaflor (147156) 2021-11-18 23:31

Salut Paul,
Original and superbe cette décoration pour ce bâtiment, bon rendu, lumière et teintes, excellente netteté, bon équilibre dans la composition avec ce minaret, tfs.

mkamionka (74447) 2021-11-19 1:53

Hi Paul,
Yes I would certainly use here a title "house made of cards" or something similar. The unique design is simply calling for it. I have never seen anything like that before. Quite an extraordinary design, so exotic and yet in the close European country. It seems also the neighbouring structures are equally stylish.
This is certainly a rarely present country on TE so I am glad you got back to your archives.
M

vjmite (6586) 2021-11-19 3:03

Hi Paul,

I haven't seen this style of decoration a mosque before. It's quite beautiful and spectacular. Excellent colour and expsoure.

Vince

emka (158172) 2021-11-19 14:22

Hello Paul, No, I haven't been to Tetovo. This year, I just went through Skopje the shortest way from Thessaloniki to Poland. When I was in NM a few years ago probably the bus went nearby (from Ohrid). I had a star on my map, so I was interested but finally didn't go there. This mosque is very special indeed and I would love to visit it. I saw the interior on Google. Also interesting. It looks like made from cards. Amazing.

Best regards MAlgo

jmdias (115186) 2021-11-21 14:04

paul

in fact a not usual building and not usual mosque. curious the adornments, in some aspects remind me play cards or carpets. nice inclusion of that minaret ahead.
TFS.

take care

jorge

clic (76) 2021-11-22 7:52

Bonjour Paul
Qu'il soit exécuté en prise de vue ou en retouche le cadrage est exemplire et fidèle au principe de lignes de tiers par l'emplacement du minaret.
Je n'ai pas encore réussi à percer le mystère de vos habituels doux contrastes si agréables!
Amitiés et bénies soient les poules pondeuses pour leur collaboration à cette magnifique rénovation :)

adramad (72998) 2021-11-23 5:21

Hello Paul.
Spectacular and wonderful this mosque, which is beyond the canons of any other sight in the East or Africa, is precious with all those panels that cover the facade and that we can admire in more detail in the WS, the dome that you show us in the another photo is equally fantastic and very different from other mosques.
Very good color that highlights the strength of the image.
Superb brightness and sharpness management to capture details.
Very well done. I like it.
Have a good start to the week.
Very best regards.
Luis.

mcmtanyel (68533) 2021-11-23 19:26

Hello Paul,
I agree, this is one of the cutest mosques I have seen. I also agree with you on the panels being like the backs of playing cards.
Regards,
MT