29 September 2023, Tetovo
Hotel Yal 1500 den [R486]

Arabati Baba Tekḱe
The tekḱe, designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi* brotherhood, is a place for spiritual practice. It was originally built in 1538 around the tomb of Sersem Ali Baba, an Ottoman dervish**. "The finest surviving Bektashi*** lodge in Europe, the sprawling complex features flowered lawns, prayer rooms, dining halls, lodgings and a great marble fountain inside a wooden pavilion."
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*"Sufism is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam."
**Dervish "can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity, or more narrowly to a religious mendicant [whose] focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego to reach God. In most Sufi orders, a dervish [will] practice... physical exertions... to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God."
***The Bektashi Order is a mystic order originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the saint Haji Bektash Veli (d. 1271)."
When we visited the complex, which is somewhat worse for wear, we greeted with Salaam Alaikum and I earned a thumbs up from a man in a wheelchair when I donned my headscarf, something I always carry when visiting Muslim sites.
Across the road was a sizeable Muslim graveyard.

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Both in Skopje and Tetovo we have searched out examples of communist era Brutalist architecture.
Plan for Skopje 1963 was the urban and architectural plan put forward to rebuild the city of Skopje following the 1963 earthquake. It was organised by the government of Yugoslavia and the United Nations... Maintenance waned after the fall of Yugoslavia.
Wikipedia: "Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era but commonly known for its presence in post-war communist nations. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the bare building materials and structural elements over decorative design. The style commonly makes use of exposed, unpainted concrete or brick, angular geometric shapes and a predominantly monochrome colour palette; other materials, such as steel, timber, and glass, are also featured."

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Lonely Planet:" Tetovo's beautiful Painted Mosque is like something out of the Arabian Tales and quite unique in the Balkans. First built in the 15th century, it was razed to the ground two centuries later in a great fire that annihilated half the city; the design and architecture you see today is a 19th-century reconstruction. The facade is a patchwork of rectangular panels worked in a fresco technique; inside, the decoration becomes rich and floral, with geometric and arabesque ornamentation."