Surrounded by a small park and a Muslim cemetery, Kursumli mosque is one of the oldest historic monuments in the city built between 1577 and 1580. The name of the mosque is a distortion of the Turkish word Kurşun(lead) which reminds us that it was originally equipped with a large lead dome. The construction of the mosque was sponsored by Mere Huseyin Pasa (c.1540-1624), a powerful local clan leader who later became the governor of Egypt and further the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. The architecture of the mosque is simple, typical of Balkan mosques: built of stone and mortar, it is square and tiled, preceded by a porch and dominated by a high minaret. Its interior decoration is finely carved and include painted wood.
