Sakinakhanim Mosque, Mosque in Guba, Azerbaijan

Sakinakhanim Mosque is a red-brick building with a cylindrical body, nine windows and two doors, and a 4.5-metre dome sheathed in iron. Inside, the ceiling rests on four large columns, and the walnut pulpit has eight pillars. The minaret stands on top of the dome, reached by a stair entered from within the mosque.

The building was constructed in 1854 by Sakina Bakikhanova as a memorial to Abbasgulu Bakikhanov. During the Soviet period it was repurposed as a warehouse before returning to religious use in 1992.

The mosque is named after Sakina Bakikhanova, who funded its construction to commemorate her husband, the writer and historian Abbasgulu Bakikhanov. She died in 1853, before the building was finished. Above the entrance portico, verses from the Quran and a hadith are inscribed in Arabic and Persian, including the promise that whoever builds a mosque, even the size of a bird's nest, will have a palace built in paradise.

The building sits in central Guba and is easy to reach on foot. Visitors should wear modest clothing and be aware this is an active place of worship where prayer times are observed.

The mosque's minaret rises from the top of the dome and is reached by a staircase entered from inside the prayer hall. The walnut pulpit has eight pillars, and the dome, 4.5 metres across, is covered with an iron layer and surrounded by tiles.