▁over wh el ming ly ▁Christian . ▁Even ▁long ▁after ▁the ▁fall ▁of ▁Sk ander beg , ▁large ▁regions ▁of ▁the ▁Alban ian ▁coun tr ys ide ▁frequently ▁re bel led ▁against ▁Ott oman ▁rule , ▁often ▁inc urr ing ▁large ▁human ▁costs , ▁including ▁the ▁dec imation ▁of ▁whole ▁villages . ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 5 7 0 s , ▁a ▁concert ed ▁effort ▁by ▁Ott oman ▁r ul ers ▁to ▁convert ▁the ▁native ▁population ▁to ▁Islam ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁stop ▁the ▁occurrence ▁of ▁season al ▁re bell ions ▁began ▁in ▁El bas an ▁and ▁Re ka . ▁In ▁ 1 5 9 4 , ▁the ▁Pope ▁inc ited ▁a ▁failed ▁re bell ion ▁among ▁Catholic ▁Alban ians ▁in ▁the ▁North , ▁prom ising ▁help ▁from ▁Spain . ▁However ▁the ▁assistance ▁did ▁not ▁come , ▁and ▁when ▁the ▁re bell ion ▁was ▁cr ushed ▁in ▁ 1 5 9 6 , ▁Ott oman ▁repr ession ▁and ▁heavy ▁press ures ▁to ▁convert ▁to ▁Islam ▁were ▁implemented ▁to ▁pun ish ▁the ▁reb els . ▁ ▁Between ▁ 1 5 0 0 ▁and ▁ 1 8 0 0 , ▁impress ive ▁ecc les iast ical ▁art ▁fl our ished ▁across ▁Southern ▁Alban ia . ▁In ▁Mos cop ole ▁there ▁were ▁over ▁ 2 3 ▁churches ▁during ▁the ▁city ' s ▁period ▁of ▁prosper ity ▁in ▁the ▁mid ▁ 1 8 th ▁century . ▁Post - By z antine ▁architect ural ▁style ▁is ▁pre val ent ▁in ▁the ▁region , ▁e . g . ▁in ▁V