Great Mosque of Samarra

mosque in Iraq

Key facts

Affiliation: Islam (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status: Congregational mosque , (851–1278 CE )
Status: Inactive (as a mosque) Partially destroyed (1278 CE) ; (Outer wall and minaret preserved)
Location: Samarra , Saladin Governorate
Country: Iraq
Type: Islamic
Style: Abbasid
Founder: Al-Mutawakkil
Groundbreaking: 234 AH (848/849 CE )
Completed: 236 AH (850/851 CE )
Destroyed: 656 AH (1258/1259 CE )
Capacity: 60,000+

~11 min read

Article

The Great Mosque of Samarra or Al-Malwiya Mosque (Arabic: جَامِع سَامَرَّاء ٱلْكَبِيْر; Arabic: مَسْجِد سَامَرَّاء ٱلْكَبِيْر; Arabic: ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلْجَامِع فِي سَامَرَّاء, lit. 'The Congregational Mosque in Samarra' or Arabic: جامع الملوية, romanized: Jāmi‘ Al-Malwiyya, lit. 'Mosque of the Spiral one'.) is a former congregational mosque, now in partial ruins, in Samarra, in the Saladin Governorate of Iraq. The mosque was commissioned in 848 CE and completed in 851 by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil. At the time of construction it was the world's largest mosque. It is known for its 52-metre-high (171 ft) minaret encircled by a spiral ramp. The former mosque is within the 15,058-hectare (37,210-acre) Samarra Archaeological City UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 2007.

History