Preparations for restoration of Old Town, Turkish Bath and Watchtower in Novi Pazar begin

The time has finally come for the historical and cultural heritage of the Islamic culture in Novi Pazar to be restored. The restoration of the Old Town, the Turkish Bath, built by town founder Isa-Beg Ishakovic, and the Watchtower in the town park has been talked about for a long time.

A delegation of the Directorate General of Foundations of Turkey visited Novi Pazar and discussed the realization of these projects with representatives of the town management and the head of the Mesihat of the Islamic Community in Serbia, mufti Mevlud Dudic. The three parties will sign a protocol on the preparation of the planning and technical documentation for the reconstruction and restoration of the Old Town and the Turkish Bath. The protocol on cooperation should be ready by the time Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits Novi Pazar this month. A protocol on cooperation between the town of Novi Pazar and the Turkish city of Bursa on the reconstruction of the Watchtower in the town park should be signed on this occasion. The planning and technical documentation for the works on the Watchtower has already been prepared.

The town parliament has recently adopted the Detailed Regulation Plan of the Old Town, which defines what it should look like and what can be built. The Old Town is located in the Prvomajska Street. It used to be called the imperial road, as caravans used to pass through it on their way to Kosovska Mitrovica, Skopje and Istanbul. The area is bordered by two mosques. One one side is Arab Mosque, now the main town mosque. On the other is Altun-Alem Mosque, architecturally the most important and one of the most beautiful edifices of Islamic architecture in this part of Serbia. Not a lot is known about the past of this building. The mosque was founded by the renowned, educated and wealthy Mevlana Muslihudin in the mid-16th century.

The Old Town leans on the west side on the Turkish Bath, a monumental edifice belonging to some of the oldest and most significant monuments of this kind in Serbia. It is divided into sections for men and women. The Turkish Bath was founded by Isa-Beg Ishakovic between the 1460s and the 1480s. On the east side of the Old Town is the town fortress with the Watchtower built in the 18th century. The tower is 15 meters tall, has four defense balconies and loopholes in three levels. It was used for observing the area and defending the fortification. Due to its cultural and historical value, the Novi Pazar Old Town was pronounced a cultural property of extraordinary significance in the 1970s.

Skupština grada Novi Pazar

Islamska zajednica Srbije

Directorate General of Foundations of Turkey

Novi Pazar Old Town

Novi Pazar Turkish Bath

Isa Beg Ishakovic

Watchtower

Mevlud Dudic

Old Town restoration

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Bursa

Old Town Detailed Regulation Plan

Novi Pazar imperial road

Arab Mosque

Altun Alem Mosque

Mevlana Muslihudin