Saint Nicholas Church
Also known as: Saint Nicholas Church
mosque and former church in Lezha, Albania
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Overview
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The building in Lezhë, in northern Albania, is known as Saint Nicholas Church and as the Selimiye (Selimije) Mosque, and is also called the Church-Mosque of Lezhë. Sources describe it as a former temple that became a Catholic church and later a mosque. Today it serves as a mausoleum and memorial containing the remains of Skanderbeg. The structure is in a ruinous state, with the surviving remains covered by a roof. It is designated a Cultural Monument of Albania.
History
This text was compiled from sourced information with AI assistance and has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Please report any errors.
The building was likely established around the 1st century BC as a temple. It was later repurposed as a church and, after 1478, as a mosque.
Under the communist regime, around 1967, the mosque was partially destroyed. In 1981 the site was given a new function as a mausoleum, with the ruins roofed over and converted into a memorial to the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg (1405–1468). Since the 1980s it has also been known as the Skanderbeg Memorial.
From Wikipedia
The St. Nicholas Church (Albanian: Kisha e Shën Nikollës, Kisha e Shna Kollit), also known as the Selimije Mosque (Albanian: Xhamia e Selimies), the Church-Mosque of Lezhë (Kisha-Xhami), and, since the 1980s, as the Skanderbeg Memorial, is a former temple and subsequently a Catholic church and a former Islamic mosque, and now a mausoleum and monument that contains the remains of Skanderbeg. The structure is located in Lezhë, Albania. Likely to have been established in c. 1st century BC, the building was repurposed as a church and then as a mosque after 1478. The mosque got partially destroyed by the Communist dictatorship in c. 1967, and again repurposed as a mausoleum in 1981. The structure is thus now in a ruinous state. The site was designated as a Cultural Monument of Albania.
Source: Wikipedia, article “St. Nicholas Church, Lezhë”; quoted unchanged under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Read more on Wikipedia ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sources
Wikipedia (en): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Nicholas_Church,_Lezh%C3%AB
Wikipedia (ru): https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%8C_%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%B5_(%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%B0)
Wikipedia (tr): https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selimiye_Camii_(Le%C5%9F)