The earliest written record of the mosque dates from 1431–32, although the 17th-century traveller Evliya Çelebi attributed it to the reign of Bayezid II. Originally known as the Mosque of the Conquest, it served travellers and caravans passing through the region and later by the Ottoman army. It was built of red brick and limestone, with a timber roof.
Today the mosque is inactive and in ruins, but its compact walls, measuring roughly ten metres a side, and its brick minaret still stand among the houses and churches of the castle quarter. Unusually, the minaret rises to the left of the entrance. The ruins were declared a Cultural Monument in 1961 and form part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Berat and Gjirokastër.
The Red Mosque is an easy and rewarding stop on any walk around the castle, offering a glimpse of the very first chapter of Ottoman Berat.
