Juma Mosque in Baku, Islamic prayer site in Icheri Sheher, Azerbaijan.
Juma Mosque in the Old City is a square prayer hall supported by four central columns that carry a dome decorated with Oriental and European patterns. The interior feels spacious and includes separate sections for men and women, all equipped with modern lighting and heating systems.
An inscription records that Amir Sharaf al-Din Mahmud ordered the mosque's restoration in Rajab 709 AH (1309/1310). The 12th-century core was rebuilt several times; the present building was erected in 1899 on the old foundations with funds from merchant Haji Shikhlali Dadashov. Under Soviet rule it housed a carpet museum, and it resumed use as a mosque in the 1990s.
The mosque's name, Cümə məscidi, means Friday Mosque, from the Arabic jumu'ah. In the medieval Shirvan region, the cathedral mosque served as a socio-cultural center. The rooms built in the 15th century in the courtyard were used for education, and one surviving cell later served as a madrasa. In the Soviet period the building housed a carpet museum.
The mosque has separate prayer sections for men and women, so visitors should know which area is designated for them. The modern heating and lighting systems throughout keep the interior comfortable regardless of the season.
The minaret on the north wall, added in 1437, is the only part of the old Jame Mosque complex that survives; it is the tallest minaret in Icheri Sheher. Its stalactite balcony and carved inscription make it a key example of Shirvan architecture.
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