Great Omari Mosque of Lod, 13th-century mosque in Lod, Israel.
The Great Omari Mosque stands in Lod's Old City, built on the western part of the former Crusader church of Saint George. Its prayer hall is a long room divided into three aisles by two rows of four columns, with a cross-vaulted ceiling. The north facade faces a courtyard whose north wall follows the line of the historic church wall; a tall, narrow minaret rises beside the mosque.
A sultan ordered the conversion of a former Crusader church into this mosque in 1268, incorporating parts of the original Byzantine basilica. The structure shows how a Christian building was repurposed under Islamic rule and adapted for continued use over the centuries.
The mosque is named after Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab. It serves as Lod's Friday mosque, and its courtyard and the arcaded rooms along its western wall are used for prayer when the hall is too small. The 15th-century traveler Felix Fabri described the mosque and its tall minaret as clean and beautiful.
The mosque entrance is on the north side and leads to a courtyard. Visitors should know that shoes must be removed before entering the prayer hall and modest clothing is required.
The mosque's single dome and slender minaret are visible from afar, but the entrance gate carries a stone inscription dating the building to June 1269 (Ramadan 667) under Sultan Baybars. The German traveler Felix Fabri described the mosque and its tower in the 1480s, noting the wall separating the church remains from the congregation and praising the courtyard's cleanliness.
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