Amberiye Mosque, Ottoman mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia
The Anbariya Mosque, also known as the Hamidiye Mosque, is a late Ottoman mosque in Medina built of dark basalt stone from the city's volcanic harra. Its facade is flanked by two slender cylindrical minarets, each with a single balcony and a lead-covered conical cap. A large central dome on a round drum rises above smaller semi-domes over the entrance portico, whose columns have muqarnas capitals and pointed arches. A rectangular inscription panel sits above the main entrance.
The mosque was built in 1908 on the orders of Sultan Abdulhamid II, during the final years of Ottoman rule over the Arabian Peninsula. It went up at a time when the empire was actively investing in religious and public buildings across its southern provinces, partly alongside the construction of the Hejaz Railway.
The mosque is named after the Anbariya Gate, beside which it was built; the gate itself no longer stands. It was erected as part of the Hejaz Railway project next to al-Muazzim Station, now the Hejaz Railway Museum. The prayer hall has no minbar because Friday prayers are not held there.
The mosque is open to worshippers during regular prayer times, so visitors should plan their arrival accordingly and wear modest, covering clothing. Those who want to see the exterior can do so at any time from the street, as the building sits in an accessible part of the city.
The mosque takes its name from the old Ambariyya Gate, which once marked one of the main entrances to the city. That gate no longer stands, but the name keeps its memory alive and places the building within Medina's original layout of city access points.
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