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Great Mosque of LarnacaLarnaca, Cyprus
The present Great Mosque of Larnaca is located in the square to the northwest of the fort. It is located on the site of an earlier mosque converted from a small Gothic church dedicated to the Holy Cross, which was demolished sometime between February 1835-April 1836 to make way for the present building. An inscription above the doorway leading to the prayer hall attributes the present mosque to Seyyid El-Hac Muhammed Aga in 1835-1836/1251 AH.
The mosque is built on a rectangular plan with two stories. Early drawings show a dome over the mosque, no longer extant. The walls are limestone, with wood frame windows, and the floors are of local marble. Originally the ground floor was used as a store and guest rooms while the first floor was used as a mosque and school. In 1890-1891/1307, a room was built on the portico to house a school, but the school eventually moved to the Zuhuri Tekke and in 1893/1311 the room was pulled down. The portico on the northwest side of the mosque is approached by a flight of around 15 steps. The portico's five arches in the front face are pointed, while an opening in the northeast side is rounded. Exterior walls are supported by buttresses. The minaret is located in the southeast corner, originally on the stump of the former church's belltower, and has been rebuilt several times, with recent restoration work in 2005.
The prayer hall is divided into three aisles by two arcades of five arches each, running from southwest to northeast, transverse to the qibla wall. Each arcade is supported on a row of four cylindrical columns topped with capitals. The wooden women's gallery is above the entrance. The ground floor has two sections, previously in use as a store and guest room, with entrances to the east, west, and north. The section entered by the east door has in turn three separate sections itself. In one chamber are marble gravestones from various Ottoman cemeteries in Larnaca, and in another is a horse drawn funeral carriage. Some of the stones are from a the graveyard that lies to the northwest of the mosque, enclosed by a wall, but it believed the gravestones come from other cemeteries as well.
Until approximately 1946/1365 AH, a street fountain existed in the mosque courtyard, funded in 1748/1161 AH. The fountain was demolished and a new one was built by the Evkaf administration in 1946.
Source:
Bağışkan, Tuncer. Ottoman, Islamic and Islamised monuments in Cyprus, 258-263. Nicosia, Cyprus: Cyprus Turkish Education Foundation, 2009.
Cyprus Civil Engineers and Architects Association (CCEAA) & Chamber of Cyprus Turkish Architects. "Jami Kebir." Accessed September 5, 2014. http://www.cyprustemples.com/templedetails.asp?id=72
Location
Larnaca, Cyprus
Events
built 1835-1836/1251 AH
Style Periods
1299-1922
Variant Names
Cami-i Kebir Larnaca
Variant
Djami Kebir Larnaca
Variant
Site Types
religious
Materials/Techniques
Great Mosque of LarnacaLarnaca, Cyprus
The present Great Mosque of Larnaca is located in the square to the northwest of the fort. It is located on the site of an earlier mosque converted from a small Gothic church dedicated to the Holy Cross, which was demolished sometime between February 1835-April 1836 to make way for the present building. An inscription above the doorway leading to the prayer hall attributes the present mosque to Seyyid El-Hac Muhammed Aga in 1835-1836/1251 AH.
The mosque is built on a rectangular plan with two stories. Early drawings show a dome over the mosque, no longer extant. The walls are limestone, with wood frame windows, and the floors are of local marble. Originally the ground floor was used as a store and guest rooms while the first floor was used as a mosque and school. In 1890-1891/1307, a room was built on the portico to house a school, but the school eventually moved to the Zuhuri Tekke and in 1893/1311 the room was pulled down. The portico on the northwest side of the mosque is approached by a flight of around 15 steps. The portico's five arches in the front face are pointed, while an opening in the northeast side is rounded. Exterior walls are supported by buttresses. The minaret is located in the southeast corner, originally on the stump of the former church's belltower, and has been rebuilt several times, with recent restoration work in 2005.
The prayer hall is divided into three aisles by two arcades of five arches each, running from southwest to northeast, transverse to the qibla wall. Each arcade is supported on a row of four cylindrical columns topped with capitals. The wooden women's gallery is above the entrance. The ground floor has two sections, previously in use as a store and guest room, with entrances to the east, west, and north. The section entered by the east door has in turn three separate sections itself. In one chamber are marble gravestones from various Ottoman cemeteries in Larnaca, and in another is a horse drawn funeral carriage. Some of the stones are from a the graveyard that lies to the northwest of the mosque, enclosed by a wall, but it believed the gravestones come from other cemeteries as well.
Until approximately 1946/1365 AH, a street fountain existed in the mosque courtyard, funded in 1748/1161 AH. The fountain was demolished and a new one was built by the Evkaf administration in 1946.
Source:
Bağışkan, Tuncer. Ottoman, Islamic and Islamised monuments in Cyprus, 258-263. Nicosia, Cyprus: Cyprus Turkish Education Foundation, 2009.
Cyprus Civil Engineers and Architects Association (CCEAA) & Chamber of Cyprus Turkish Architects. "Jami Kebir." Accessed September 5, 2014. http://www.cyprustemples.com/templedetails.asp?id=72
Location
Larnaca, Cyprus
Images & Videos
Events
built 1835-1836/1251 AH
Style Periods
1299-1922
Variant Names
Cami-i Kebir Larnaca
Variant
Djami Kebir Larnaca
Variant
Site Types
religious