Bajrakli Mosque, Belgrade

The Bajrakli Mosque is a significant Islamic religious and cultural site located in Belgrade, Serbia, specifically on Gospodar Jevremova Street in the Dorćol neighborhood. Constructed around 1575, it stands as the only mosque in Belgrade out of the original 273 that existed during the Ottoman Empire's rule over Serbia.

During the Austrian occupation of Serbia from 1717 to 1739, the mosque was converted into a Roman Catholic church. However, it reverted to its original function as a mosque when the Ottomans regained control of Belgrade.

The mosque is a single-story cubic structure with a dome and minaret, featuring sturdy stone walls pierced by small brick and stone openings. Its design includes an octagonal dome supported by oriental domed arches and trompes, adorned with simple console designs. The facade showcases an odd number of windows, including one on each side of the dome's tambour, all framed by ogee oriental arches. A slender minaret with a conical roof and circular terrace stands on the northwest exterior, where the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer.

The mosque’s interior decoration is modest, with walls featuring shallow moldings, rare stylized floral and geometrical motifs, and calligraphic inscriptions of Quranic verses, the names of the first righteous caliphs, and the magnificent properties and names of Allah written in Arabic letters on specially decorated carved panels.

The Bajrakli Mosque serves as the main Islamic cultural center in Belgrade. Due to its historical significance, rarity, and preservation of its original purpose, it was placed under state protection as a cultural monument in 1946 and was declared a cultural monument of great value in 1979.