The Darwish Pasha Mosque (Also called, Muzaffari Mosque) is an early Ayyubid-era mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 in Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, located in the al-Salihiyah

Al-Salihiyah

Al-Salihiyah is a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria. It lies to the north and northwest of the old walled city of Damascus about from the Citadel at the foot of Mount Qasioun. The quarter is famous for its cemetery of holy men. It houses the Parliament building. It has also has the Hanabila Mosque....

 quarter of Damascus, on a side street off Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi Lane, outside the fortifications of the old city. The mosque was built between 1202 and 1213 for the followers of the Hanbali

Hanbali

The Hanbali school is one the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. The jurisprudence school traces back to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal but was institutionalized by his students. Hanbali jurisprudence is considered very strict and conservative, especially regarding questions of dogma...

 school of Islam. The construction began under the patronage of Sheikh Maqdisi and was completed by Muzaffar al-Din Abu Sa'eed al-Kawkaboori, a prince from Arbil

Arbil

Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...

. It is the first Ayyubid monument built in Damascus and the oldest surviving mosque after the Umayyad Mosque

Umayyad Mosque

The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus or formerly the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist , is located in the old city of Damascus, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world...

.

Architecture

The mosque's plain façade hides an elaborate courtyard and a prayer hall modeled after the Umayyad Mosque. Its plan is composed of a rectangular prayer hall preceded by an arcaded courtyard to the north, with a minaret to the northeast corner of the courtyard.

Courtyard

The courtyard has a central fountain and is surrounded by an arcade on three sides that is carried on stone piers. The arcade columns are crowned with Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 or Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 capitals and the gallery wall above the arcade is punctured by numerous arched windows. The southern wall of the courtyard, which holds the main entrance to the prayer hall, is built with alternating stone courses of basalt and limestone. Located behind the arcade at the northeast corner of the courtyard, the minaret is shifted from the main axis of the mihrab with the main entrance. The minaret is similar to al-Aruss minaret of the Umayyad Mosque; it is a tall tower crowned with a wooden balcony and a stone finial.

Interior

The prayer hall is divided into three aisles with heavy piers and columns, carrying stone arches that support a pitched timber roof. The mihrab

Mihrab

A mihrab is semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...

is a shallow niche on the qibla wall and is set in a rectangular frame decorated with geometric patterns and topped by a line of Quranic inscription. The niche is crowned with a muqarnas

Muqarnas

Muqarnas is a type of corbel used as a decorative device in traditional Islamic architecture. The term is similar to mocárabe, but mocárabe only refers to designs with formations resembling stalactites, by the use of elements known as alveole.Muqarnas takes the form of small pointed niches,...

semi-dome and framed with two Roman columns. The mihrab is flanked from each side by two arched windows currently blocked by air-conditioning equipment.

The prayer hall is lit through large casements placed inside heavy stone frames located at regular intervals at the ground level. The southern wall has a second tier of windows, some of which are made of colored glass. A few other colored windows lighten either end of the pitched roof. Windows flanking the main entrance on the north wall are richly decorated with stucco panels carved with floral motifs and text at their tympanum. To the right of the mihrab, a wooden minbar

Minbar

A minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation...

, the oldest in Syria, displays fine wood carving, with interlocking geometric shapes and intricate floral motifs.