Attempts were made to stop the reconstruction of the Aladža Mosque

The reconstruction of the Aladža Mosque in Foča will be financed by the General Directorate of Waqfs of Turkey, which was also formalized by an agreement signed with the Waqf Directorate of the Islamic Community of BiH on March 10. Amra Hadžimuhamedović, president of the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH, told the Patria News Agency that the reconstruction of the Aladža Mosque is of exceptional importance for the cultural and historical heritage of Southeastern Europe.

- After seven years of work on identifying reconstruction priorities, the Aladža Mosque, along with the Sarajevo City Hall and the Hellenistic Daorson settlement, was included on the Council of Europe's list of priorities within the project for the protection of cultural and historical heritage of SE Europe. Complete documentation has been prepared for it, and we applied for funds from the IPA funds of the European Commission. That process was halted due to political and ideological reasons, primarily within the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It would have been most appropriate for the European Commission to finance the reconstruction – says Hadžimuhamedović for NAP.

The mosque was demolished to its foundations by the Army of Republika Srpska during the aggression against BiH from 1992 to 1995.

- Since the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments declared the site and the remains of the Aladža Mosque a national monument, it has continuously undertaken activities aimed at its reconstruction. Including the initiative and full involvement of the Commission in discovering the locations where the remains of the Aladža Mosque were thrown and their retrieval from those locations, identification, and preparation for installation. It is a jewel of European architectural heritage – says Hadžimuhamedović.

She noted that since 2003, elementary school students from Foča and Goražde have been involved in the project, and that a large number of Foča citizens support the reconstruction of the Aladža Mosque. The Aladža Mosque in Foča was built in 1549 and is the first mosque in the country built in the classical Ottoman style. The greatest value of this mosque, according to experts, lies in the fact that many mosques built after it were modeled after its style.