Altun-Alem Mosque
The Altun-Alem — the “Golden Gem” — is the most important surviving Ottoman mosque in Novi Pazar, built between about 1516 and 1528 by the scholar and benefactor Muslihudin Abdul Gani.
Why it matters
It is a refined example of the early Ottoman Bursa school: a single-domed prayer hall, a twin-domed porch, and a slender twelve-sided minaret cut from precise sandstone blocks. The 17th-century traveller Evliya Çelebi already singled it out for praise.
Essentials
- An active mosque — dress modestly, remove shoes
- Avoid prayer times for a quiet visit
- Note the twelve-sided sandstone minaret
- Steps from the čaršija and hamam
