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Aleppo, Umayyad Mosque
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100 (2004 census), it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant. For centuries, Aleppo was the Syrian region's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third-largest, after Constantinople and Cairo.
Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it has been inhabited since perhaps as early as the 6th millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied since at least the latter part of the 3rd millennium BC; and this is also when Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebla and Mesopotamia, in which it is noted for its commercial and military proficiency. Such a long history is probably due to its being a strategic trading point midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia (i.e. modern Iraq).
The city's significance in history has been its location at the end of the Silk Road, which passed through central Asia and Mesopotamia. When the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo ceded its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, as well as the important railway connecting it to Mosul. Then in the 1940s it lost its main access to the sea, Antioch and Alexandretta, also to Turkey. Finally, the isolation of Syria in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation, although perhaps it is this very decline that has helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage.
The Great Mosque of Aleppo or the Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo is the largest and one of the oldest mosques in the city of Aleppo, Syria. It is located in the Ancient City of Aleppo, a World Heritage Site, near the entrance to al-Madina Souq. The mosque was built in the beginning of the 8th century. However, the current building dates back to the 11th through 14th centuries. The minaret was built in 1090, and was destroyed during fighting in the Syrian civil war in April 2013.
The construction of the earliest mosque was commenced by the Ummayad caliph al-Walid I in 715 and was finished by his successor Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik in 717. In the second half of the 11th century, the Mirdasids controlled Aleppo and built a single-domed fountain in the mosque's courtyard. At the northwest corner of the mosque, the 45-meter high minaret was built by the Shia Muslim qadi ("chief Islamic judge") of Aleppo, Abu'l Hasan Muhammad in 1090, during the reign of Seljuk governor Aq Sunqur al-Hajib. Its construction was finished in 1094 during Tutush's rule.
The mosque was restored and expanded by the Zengid sultan Nur al-Din in 1159 after a great fire that had destroyed the earlier Ummayad structure. In 1260 the mosque was razed by the Mongols. The Mamluks (1260–1516) made repairs and alterations. Carved Kufic and nashki inscriptions decorated the entire minaret along with alternate bands of stylized ornaments in patterns and muqarnas. Sultan Qalawun replaced the burnt out mihrab (niche indicating the qibla, or direction to Mecca) in 1285. Later, Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (1293–1341) had the new minbar ("preacher's pulpit") constructed during his reign.
The Great Mosque is built around a vast courtyard that connects to different areas of the mosque, positioned behind the colonnaded arcade. The courtyard is well known for its alternating black and white stone floor that forms intricate geometric arrangements. Two ablutions fountains, both of which are roofed. The court yard also has an open prayer estrade and a sundial.
The haram ("sanctuary") consists of the main prayer hall to the courtyard's south, which contains the primary elements of the mosque: the shrine of Zechariah, a 15th-century minbar ("pulpit"), and an elaborately carved mihrab ("niche"). Although the central entrance contains an inscription attributing its construction to Ottoman sultan Murad III, it was built by the Mamluks. The hall has three naves, all lined with 18 quadrangular columns with cross-vaults. This large prayer hall originally had a basic straight rooftop with a central dome, but during Mamluk rule was replaced with an intricate cross-vaulted system with arches and a small dome over the arcades. The mihrab is deep and round and Zechariah's supposed tomb is to its left along the southern wall.
There are three other halls that abut the remaining sides of the courtyard. The eastern and northern halls each have two naves, while the western hall has one. The latter is mostly of modern construction. The east hall dates to the period of Malik Shah (1072–92) and the north hall was renovated during Mamluk sultan Barquq's reign (1382–1399), but largely maintained its original 11th century character.
The minaret's shaft, which protruded out of the flat roof of one of the halls, consisted of five levels with a crowning top encircled with a veranda. A muqarnas-style cornice divided the veranda top from the shaft. The structure was largely built of fine ashlar. The minaret was heavily decorated in relief ornament, more so than any other Islamic-era structure in Aleppo with the exception of the Shu'aybiyah Madrasa. Its stories contained cusped arches and continuous mouldings. The masonry of the minaret varied throughout, with a mix of light and heavy usage of toothed tools, short, long, vertical and horizontal strokes, fine and rough finishes, and small and large stones.
(sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_of_Aleppo)
Taken from the roof of Hotel Fort View.
To find out more about Badshahi Mosque, visit the following link:
The Medieval Mosque is a part of a collaborative build with my LUG friends from Zbudujmy To!, which shows an Arabic Street, with 3 districts: Savannah, Poor district and Wealthy district.
The mosque, was of course made for the wealthy disctrict.
You can check out the full review of my build on my YouTube channel: youtu.be/D4ZTGFEfdeQ
The star mosaic inspired by:
Andreas Lenander - www.flickr.com/photos/124068149@N02
&
Katie Walker - www.flickr.com/photos/eilonwy77
For this MOC, I'm using Briksmax lights from Lightailing. You can get your own with a 5% discount following this link:
www.lightailing.com/?ref=hwE1OAM4oTNZIM
And using the promo code: EBEO6LBZWR
The Cumbernauld Mosque, right next door to a small church. I had no idea this was here, it is tucked away behind the anonymous roads that wind around this spread-out, bland, post-war "new town", screened by trees. I caught sight of the dome through the trees, so dad pulled over into the next road so I could take a couple of pics
The shah Faisal Mosque is the largest mosque of Islamabad, Pakistan. It is superbly situated near the Margalla Hills, represents an eight-faceted desert 'tent' supported on four towering minarets.
It has sloping roofs, an opulent marble face and four towering minarets. The complex also houses the Islamic Research Centre, library, museum, lecture hall, cafeteria and the offices of the faculty of the Islamic University situated there.
Building work on the masjid started in 1976. The late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia during his visit to Islamabad in 1966 liked the idea of the construction of a grand Mosque as well as the site and offered to bear the expenditure of the Grand National Mosque Project. Accordingly, this Grand National Mosque has been named after the late King Faisal.
In order to select a befitting design of the mosque, an international competition was organized in 1969. All the leading architects of the Muslim World were invited to submit their designs and out of the several designs received from various countries. The design of Mr. Vedat Dalokay, one of the leading Turkish architects was adjudged to be the best. Hence the Masjid is designed by him.
Original photo not by myself
The New Mosque (Yeni Cami) forms an impressive backdrop for a flight of pigeons. The "New" is relative as this mosque was built in 1663 and is one of the many beautiful imperial mosques that dots the Eminonu district in Istanbul, Turkey
Lights illuminate the Waqaf Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. ca. July 1985 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
[Yazd, Iran] Prominently tall twin minaret towers of the Jameh congregational mosque of Yazd, under the silhouette of a brick arch from the mosque's courtyard, with noticeable elements of Persian architecture, against a gloomy cloudy sky.
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©2016 Germán Vogel - All rights reserved - No usage allowed in any form without the written consent of the photographer.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque that was constructed between 1996 and 2007 is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The largest mosque in the country, it is the key place of worship for Friday gathering and Eid prayers. During Eid it may be visited by more than 41,000 people.
The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, also called the Mezquita and the Great Mosque of Córdoba, is a medieval Islamic mosque that was converted into a Catholic Christian cathedral in the Spanish city of Córdoba, Andalusia. Wikipedia
As the call from mosques sound throughout the city, men make their way to begin prayer at this time of Eid. They walk in clothes freshly dressed, through busy streets and building sites. These pipes are some of the obstacals, though also used as shade from the intense sun and as a place of social gathering once prayer has been be completed. As for now, men and boys will soon repetedly bow their heads, all the while strengthening their faith. And I wonder at times, do they ever ask Allah for particular blessings, or do their most intimate hopes remain nothing more than pipe dreams.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is an historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also contains a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.
Bolo-Hauz - the Emir's Mosque in Bukhara is the 17th century mosque, which was a place of prayer for the Emirs and their entourage. Bolo-Hauz Mosque is the only preserved monument in Registan Square that includes: multi-column aivan, domed mosque, minaret and a small pool.
Bolo-Hauz Mosque is the only surviving monument in Registan Square, which includes a mosque, minaret and a pool. The pool is the oldest part of the ensemble and is one of the few remaining in the ancient city; for the honor of this pool the mosque is called Bolo-Hauz (children’s pool). In the water of the pond one can see a reflection of the colorfully painted ayvan – a gallery with colonnade – and of the minaret.
The Mosque was built in 1712 for the mother of Ashtarkhanid ruler Abul Fayud Khan (1711-47). Another version states that the Emir Shakhmurad (1785-1800) built it for public prayers, because he liked to be closer to his people. Although the mosque was built as a royal chapel, it has become a significant civic monument as a consequence of its eminent site near the famed Registan Square.
Later, Bukhara’s last Emir Sayyid Alim Khan (1910-20) ordered to build a richly decorated entry ‘aywan’ (terrace) to the mosque’s eastern façade during a general reconstruction of the area in 1914-17. In 1917, famed local master craftsman, Shirin Muradov built a small minaret in front of the mosque.
Also known as the Forty Pillar Mosque, this is where the Emir would stride out of a Friday from his residence in the nearby Registan for the noon prayers. Its slender, elegantly carved wooden pillars hold up a beautifully restored painted coffered ceiling. On Fridays once again the faithful come here to pray, and there are often so many that they spill out of the mosque onto the platform near the reflecting pool.
Blue Mosque dome.
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Sultanahmet or Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Blue İznik tiles in the interior give the mosque it's colloquial name. It is a tourist attraction and a woking mosque so check out the schedule and plan your visit accordingly.
“Let mercy be your mosque, faith your prayer-mat, and honest living your Koran”
Sri Guru Granth Sahib quotes
Edinburgh Central Mosque (officially known as the King Fahd Mosque and Islamic Centre of Edinburgh) is located on Potterrow near the University of Edinburgh central area and the National Museum of Scotland. The mosque and Islamic centre was designed by Dr. Basil Al Bayati, and took more than six years to complete at a cost of £3.5M. The main hall can hold over one thousand worshippers, with women praying on a balcony overlooking the hall. The mosque holds chandeliers and a vast carpet, with very little furniture.
Wikipedia reports that the mosque was built on reclaimed land, with almost half of the surface of the mosque extending over the waters of the Atlantic. This was reportedly inspired by the verse of the Qur'an which says that "the throne of God was built on the water". Part of floor is glass so that worshippers can realize that they are kneeling directly over the sea.
The mosque was built to withstand earthquakes and has a heated floor, electric doors, and a sliding roof. It displays strong Moorish influence and the architecture of the building is similar to that of the Alhambra and the Mezquita in Spain.
Source: Wikipedia
One of the most beautiful mosques in the world. Its actuall name is Msjid Sultan Ahmed but European call it "BLUE MOSQUE" i dont know why?
New Mosque in Surgut.
For me it was unexpected, to find such a building here at geographical latitude of Anchorage (almost 62nd parallel). Frozen and windy day, my black tape shutters were brittle and not much sticky.
OO-Long Tea tin box pinhole camera, 15 sec.
I'm back from 2 weeks travelling around Morocco with hundreds of photos to process, a mountain of laundry and the obligatory stomach bug.
Anyway - this is the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, Morocco's tallest building and the second largest mosque in the world.
It cost US$750m, raised by forced taxes on the locals which I thought was quite obscene given the awful poverty in the country - a perfect example being the shanty town just across the road from the mosque.
The beach from where this was taken isnt the nicest - I was being heckled by some drunks as I took this, and some locals were using the beach as an open sewer. Actually, Casablanca itself is an awful place - I couldn't wait to get out of it as I didn't feel safe there - it smells of wee, and there is rubbish everywhere.
Opened in May 2009, Şakirin Mosque is the only mosque in the world designed by a woman. It is in Asiatic Istanbul.
I have heard this modern mosque jokefully called club five times a day, because of its designer's having designed night clubs the other times.
It is regarded highly worldwide:
Officially opened in May 2009, the beautiful Sakirin Mosque in Turkey is the result of a direct effort to merge antiquity with modernity in a society immersed in constant and contentious debates about religion and secularism. The interior of the mosque was designed by Zeynep Fadillioglu, a famous British-Turkish female interior designer, and is located among several other classical mosques. In a 2008 BBC article Fadillioglu, who is not religious herself, admitted that she wept tears of joy when she was asked to join the project:
Especially at a time when so much is being discussed wrongly of Islam not allowing women to have equal rights. The fact that a woman can build a mosque disproves this.
The issue of women’s rights and Islam is certainly not clear cut and those who discuss it in polar terms (as people often do) are either not aware of, or choose to ignore, certain inherent complexities, but creations like this are representative of tides of change which are penetrating Islamic societies and creating spaces for debate.
Notes Fadillioglu:
There are big discussions on whether Western values are to be integrated with Islamic values, or whether two different communities will remain divided.
I think this mosque has all the Western and Eastern values nicely blended. We wanted to go with the flow of Islam, while at the same time creating something contemporary.
Cnn article :
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- There is a shiny addition among the Ottoman mosques and palaces that make up Istanbul's stunning skyline: the metallic, mirrored dome of the new Sakirin Mosque, a Muslim place of worship built with a woman's touch.
When sun reflects off Sakirin Mosque's dome, light can be seen across the Bosphorus Strait.
When sun reflects off Sakirin Mosque's dome, light can be seen across the Bosphorus Strait.
more photos »
For what may be the first time in history, women have been at the forefront of the construction of a mosque in Turkey.
One of the project's leaders is Zeynep Fadillioglu, an interior decorator who has designed restaurants, hotels and luxury homes from New Delhi, India, to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and London, England.
She helped organize a team of traditional mosque artists specializing in Islamic calligraphy, along with craftsmen in glassworks, metal-casting and lighting who, like Fadillioglu, have built careers working in exclusively secular architecture and design.
"I want people to feel peaceful and be left with themselves as much as possible and yet have beautiful art and artistic symbolism around them," she said.
Istanbul has a venerable tradition of mosque architecture, dating back centuries to when Ottoman sultans declared themselves caliph, or spiritual leader of the Muslim world. Video Watch Zeynep Fadilioglu show off her work and inspirations »
The shores of the Bosporus Strait are studded with 16th century masterpieces such as the Suleymaniye Mosque, built by the Ottoman Empire's most famous architect, Mimar Sinan, and ornate, neo-Baroque jewels designed by the Armenian Balyan family in the 19th century. But Istanbul's most senior Muslim cleric laments that mosque design suffered a decline after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I.
"In the last 70, 80 years, we have built mosques that are copies of Ottoman architecture," said Mustafa Cagrici, the mufti of Istanbul. "This wasn't a good development, because the copy can never be as good as the original."
Fadillioglu and her team of artists are hoping to change that. Photo Look at photos of the mosque »
The Sakirin Mosque was commissioned by a wealthy Turkish Arab family and built in one of Istanbul's oldest cemeteries.
The designers put a number of contemporary touches on the structure, giving it plate glass walls etched with gold-leaf verses from the Quran, framed by giant cast-iron grids.
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"If we think about this place as a home of God, we can also say women will make this place much better."
Carpenter Metin Cekeroglu
The mihrab -- the alcove that points worshippers in the direction of Mecca -- is made of asymmetrical ovals, similar to a design used by Fadillioglu to decorate a restaurant in London. And the chandelier is a multi-layered series of metal and plexiglass rings, carrying Quranic inscriptions and dripping with scores of delicate glass teardrops.
"The glass chandelier brings the high dome down to the people," Fadillioglu explained. "So when they pray and kneel they don't feel lost with the light and it shelters them."
Many of the artists here never worked on a mosque before.
"It's special that a woman's hand is involved in this," said one of them, a male carpenter named Metin Cekeroglu. "If you think about it, a home is made by woman. And if we think about this place as a home of God, we can also say women will make this place much better."
Fadillioglu said one of her goals was to bring extra attention into the design of the women's section of the mosque, an area that she says is often neglected by architects. According to Islamic tradition, worshippers are segregated by gender at mosques.
"I have seen mosques where women have been pushed to the worst part of stairs, cramped area. Sort of as if (they are) unwanted in the mosque," she said. "That is not what Islam is about. ... Women are equal in Islam to men"
Five minutes' drive from the Sakirin Mosque stands the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, a 16th century structure built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in honor of his favorite daughter. Unfortunately, female worshippers do not get to enjoy its stunning stained glass windows the way the men do. They have to pray in a small women's section, hidden behind a bank of chest-high shelves that store shoes.
At the Sakirin Mosque, Fadillioglu said, she gave women praying on the balcony an unobstructed view of the dome, the ornate chandelier, and the area on the floor where the imam will lead prayers.
"I would like to come here to pray," said Elif Demir, an 18-year old art student with a funky, orange-dyed haircut who was working on the chandelier. "This mosque is completely different because of the light that's coming through the walls, through the glass."
Fadillioglu's role in the Sakirin Mosque is all the more surprising because she comes from a jet-set side of Turkish society not normally associated with Islam.
"It is unusual," she conceded, "because first of all not many modern people have been commissioned to design a mosque."
She spoke in a recent interview at Ulus 29, the expensive Istanbul hilltop restaurant and bar that is owned by her husband. Amid the Ottoman- and Selcuk-inspired flourishes she has sprinkled around the restaurant are echoes of designs seen at the Sakirin Mosque. A glass chandelier made of hundreds of crystal tear drops hangs above the bar, similar in style to the mosque's chandelier.
Fadillioglu said being a night club owner does not prevent her from also being a Muslim.
"You might be surprised in Turkey to find some very modern-looking people being very religious at the same time," she said.
Religion is a hot-button political issue in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country with a strict secular system of government.
For the past eight years a fierce power struggle has been under way between an urban secular elite and a rising new class of religiously conservative Turks from the Anatolian heartlands. Unlike the wives of Turkey's Islamic-rooted president and prime minister, Fadillioglu does not wear the Islamic headscarf that is often seen as the symbol of this new class of Turks.
Fadillioglu said politics have polarized society.
"In my childhood ... you didn't differentiate between who was religious," she explained. "Whoever wants to worship or visit this mosque, its open, its ready for them."
On May 8, Turkey's prime minister attended an inauguration ceremony for the Sakirin Mosque.
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Afterward, in an interview with CNN, the mufti of Istanbul called it the start of a new era of mosque design in Turkey.
"It is in Islamic tradition for women to commission mosques ... and now we have women who are building mosques as well," Cagrici said. "God willing, I hope the world will see more of these beautiful mosques, touched by women's hands."