Church of Saint Nicholas, Lezhë

For other uses, see Selimiye Mosque (disambiguation).

Remains of the Church inside the mausoleum

The Church of Saint Nicholas(Albanian: Kisha e Shën Nikollës/Kisha e Shna Kollit), former Selimije Mosque (Albanian: Xhamia e Selimies), or Church-Mosque of Lezhë (Kisha-Xhami) is a ruined historic church where the remains of Skanderbeg are said to be preserved in Lezhë, Albania. It is now used as Skanderbeg's Mausoleum in Lezhë, Albania.

History

The original Selimie mosque in 1917

The "Gaviarivs" engraved stone at the entrance of the castle.

Originally, the building was a church, named after Saint Nicholas. A fresco of the saint is still present in the remains of the church, although heavily damaged. The Church was located in the interior part of an Illyrian City which was later reconstructed by the Romans, in the 1st century BC. Evidence for this is the "Gaviarius" (Gaviarivs) Stone in front of the entrance, which was unearthed during the Archaeological Excavations in 1975-1980 by Frano Prendi and Koço Zheku.

When the Ottoman Turks conquered Albania, the church got plundered, and they turned it into a mosque by adding a dikka, a mihrab and a large minaret. The mosque was named after the Ottoman Sultan Selim I. The trouble that Skanderbeg caused to the Ottoman Empire's military forces was such that when the Ottomans found the grave of Skanderbeg in the St. Nicolas they opened it and made amulets of his bones, believing that these would confer bravery on the wearer. The St. Nicolas' Church was rebuilt by the Ottomans elsewhere in return as a gesture of tolerance towards Christians.

The Selimiye mosque was one of the last buildings from the Middle Ages in Lezhë and did not survive during the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, who destroyed all mosques in Lezhë. The minaret of the Selimie mosque was torn down. In 1981, the Skanderbeg Mausoleum opened here.

Restoration

The Mausoleum underwent restoration with a project that started in 2018.