CULTURE
Mosque of Muhammad or Siniggala – pearl of Baku-Absheron architecture school
Baku, April 1, AZERTAC
Mosque of Muhammad or Siniqqala (Broken Tower), which is considered the pearl of Baku-Absheron architecture school, is one of the most ancient and magnificent monuments of medieval Azerbaijani architecture.
Ancient mosques were mainly built in Icherisheher - the oldest part of Baku and the UNESCO World Heritage site, which is surrounded by the fortress wall and divided into several neighborhoods.
You can see many forms of mosques when you enter through the fortress wall and go along narrow streets.
These mosques are religious monuments, which are considered architectural pearls of Icherisheher, also play important role in Baku’s social life.
There are 23 religious monuments in Icherisheher and 22 of them are mosques, while the remaining one is church.
Siniggala is a unique monument of world importance and the earliest dated monument of the Islamic period in Icherisheher.
The mosque was built during the reign of Shirvanshah I Fariburuz by master Muhammed Abubakr oglu. Four lines of writing carved with Arabic inscription over limestone on the northern wall of the mosque confirm this: “Merciful Allah, ordered to build the mosque. Master Muhammed Abubakr.”
Minaret is in cylindrical shape. “Sharafa” (place for muezzin) leans on the stalactite girdle and the minaret completed with hunk elements. Quran text written in Arabic script goes under the stalactite girdle.
In 2010, the mosque building and minaret were carefully restored by the Austrian company Atelier Erich Pummer GmbH using a unique technology of vacuum stone reinforcement.
Conservation work was carried out in the mosque in 2013.