ČARŠIJA MOSQUE

Completed in 2015, this mosque is a faithful replica of the Čaršija Mosque (Čaršijska Džamija) destroyed in 1993. Built in 1519, it was one of the oldest in the country. It was around it that Stolac was formed in the 16th century. It was indeed surrounded by a charchia(čaršija), a commercial and religious complex typical of Ottoman and Persian cities that is often referred to as the "bazaar district". Like the original model, the mosque is actually dedicated to the Ottoman Sultan Selim^I (reign 1512-1520). As such, it is also called "Sultan Selim Mosque" (Sultan Selimova Džamija) or "Emperor Mosque" (Careva Džamija). It is covered with a roof of slate. Its minaret is 25.8 m high. The porch is painted with plant motifs typical of 16th century Islamic art. It is supported by ten columns, whose number symbolizes the fingers of God. The prayer room (16.4 x 9.2 m and 4.4 m high) houses two mahvils (platforms for the muezzin or imam during prayer) supported by eleven wooden columns. The number of columns evokes the eleven imams, spiritual and political successors of Muhammad, the twelfth imam still living, in "occultation", hidden in an invisible world. This can be found in the oldest mosques in the country, such as in Prusac (central Bosnia). This symbol reveals the influence of the Gnostic Islam of the Sufi brotherhoods that venerate the Twelve Imams, unlike the Sunnis, the majority among Muslims in the country.