Cultural site: ALTUN-ALEM MOSQUE
History
The historical, urban and artistic significance of the Altun-alem mosque in Novi Pazar, a masterpiece of Islamic architecture under state protection since 1979, is evidenced by the fact that it is the best-preserved mosque with a two-aisled porch in the former Yugoslavia. It is well known that the Altun-alem mosque was built in the middle of the 16th century by Muslihedin Abdul Ghani, also known as the Muezzin Hodja Al Medina. The exact year of construction of the mosque is unknown. The Novi Pazar mosque developed only in the 19th century, when numerous crafts and trade shops developed in Novi Pazar.
Cultural site details
The Altun-Alem mosque is located in the old part of Novi Pazar, in Prvog maja Street. It is a one-room domed mosque with a size of about 10 × 16m. With its antiquity and simple architectural composition, it stands out from fifteen mosques in Novi Pazar. The prayer space is square in shape, vaulted low, with an 8.47 m wide dome (over an octagonal tambour 1.30 m high), so that the whole space is almost a regular cube. The walls of the main part are built of hewn stone and brick, which were repaired and plastered on the outside by the Institute for the Protection of Monuments to imitate "Byzantine" geometrically correct, alternating rows of thin bricks and stone. The mosque has therefore lost much of its originality. The porch is unusually high with two massive pillars and a closed wall on the right in which is the door to the entrance to the minaret. The pillars are vaulted with two arches, which carry the roof and two blind domes above the porch. The porch is decorated with sandstone joists. To the right of the porch is a twelve-sided minaret, built of worked sandstone with a staircase, of very, very rare construction. The base of the šerefe and (balcony) is decorated with stalactites made of the same stone - sandstone. The minaret is not so high, but it fits propositionally harmoniously with the closed cube, entrance - open porch, their volumes and heights into one harmonious architectural whole. This is perhaps the only case in our region that the minaret was built next to the porch and not the main part of the mosque. The pulpit, mihrab, portal frames and windows are built of quality selected stone. The mosque is covered with lead sheet metal. The roof cornice is very decorative on the main part with a larger height, and on the porch with a lower height. The prayer space is illuminated by light with 4 windows and three walls, three scenes in the walls of the tambour and one window on the porch - so with sixteen window openings.
As a monument of Islamic sacral architecture, it was placed under state protection. Near the mosque are two buildings that serve: one for the mekteb and the other for the imam's residence. Both date from the period when the mosque. They were built in the Turkish-Balkan style. The mekteb building was turned into a local museum, but in 1971. converted into an IZ library with several old manuscripts to be examined.