Great Mosque in Samarra (Samarra, Iraq). "Tower of Babel" in Samarra Great Mosque in Samarra

The Malviya Minaret, an impressive 52-meter-tall tower with spiral ramps, still recalls the former grandeur of the Great Mosque of Samarra, which was the largest mosque in the world during the Abbasid Caliphate.

The spiraling mosque building, which dates back more than a thousand years, is at risk of collapse due to extensive damage caused by military attacks, according to Iraqi media reports.

The external staircase of the mosque is unstable: several stones are missing. The minaret walls, on which the names of visitors are carved, are also unreliable. It's not safe to be there. This was confirmed by an accident that occurred on March 29, 2017: a young man tried to climb the minaret, but fell and died.

Malvia is known for its spiral structure; it is unlike any other minaret in the world. The mosque is one of Samarra's many historical sites, and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007. Situated on both sides of the Tigris River, 130 kilometers north of Baghdad, ancient capital Samarra demonstrates well the scale of the Abbasid Caliphate, which in the 8th century was the largest Islamic empire, stretching from Tunisia to Central Asia. Today, Samarra is the only extant Islamic capital that has preserved its original plan, architecture and art, in particular mosaics and carvings.

Al Ahram Gate reported on its website that a study (“Suggested Methods for the Conservation of the Grand Mosque of Samarra and its Malwiya Minaret”) conducted last year by Issam Khishmat of South Valley University in Egypt found that the mosques have been years, various types of damage were caused. In 2003, during the American invasion of Iraq, the mosque served as a military base, and in 2005, the minaret was damaged during a terrorist attack that destroyed much of the architecture of the 1,200-year-old monument.

Mahmoud Khalaf, mayor of Samarra district, said that some of the damage to the mosque building was caused by weather conditions and humidity. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Khalaf said that renovation work on the mosque grounds is already underway. In 2017, UNESCO and the Iraqi authorities signed an agreement to preserve and manage the old city of Samarra. This work should begin with the restoration of the Great Mosque and the Malviya Minaret.

“I contacted local and federal officials several times to get more funds to restore this old monument, but each time we received the same answer: “The main priority is the war against ISIS (banned in the territory Russian Federation- Islamosphere), security and stability of the country,” Khalaf said, explaining that a UNESCO delegation is conducting a study of the mosque to deal with damage caused by moisture and deteriorating bricks.

Khalaf is in contact with engineer and archaeologist Giovanni Fontana Antonelli, a member of the UNESCO delegation who is working to restore the site. “We are trying to assess the condition of the mosque and find appropriate solutions to curb environmental and human risks, as well as correct the damage caused by previous improper renovation work carried out during the Baathist regime in the 1990s,” Antonelli told Al-Monitor.

“To solve the tasks assigned to us, we will go to the field and meet with local authorities and stakeholders,” he also said.

According to Antonelli, “a joint technical committee monitors the quality of the work to be performed and the implementation of the joint project of Iraqi and international experts to develop a comprehensive reconstruction plan.”

Al-Monitor interviewed Algerian archaeologist Mahmoud Bandakir, who is also a member of the UNESCO delegation. " Historical city Samarra was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2007 as a Monument in Danger. Therefore, some restoration work needs to be carried out at the site, which is the responsibility of the government.”

According to him, “the safety problem and lack of funding led to delays in the implementation of repair and maintenance work. This means that Iraq has violated the decision of the World Heritage Committee made in 2013, according to which governments were instructed to carry out proper repair and maintenance work.”

Bandakir said: “After consultations with the Salahuddin provincial authorities, it was decided to begin work on the restoration of the Grand Mosque, as it has the most serious damage, not to mention the fact that inadequate repair and restoration work was carried out at the site at one time. In addition, the mosque was bombed during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.” He added that restoration work must be carried out in accordance with international standards, as stipulated in the 1964 Venice Charter.

Head of the Parliamentary Means Committee mass media and culture Maysun al-Damluji said in an interview with Al-Monitor: “In the near future, the reconstruction of archaeological sites and monuments will be carried out and investment projects will be created. The Iraqi Antiquities Authority said that renovation work at the mosque will be financed by the Iraqi Sunni Foundation, collected from tourists who visited the mosque during Saddam Hussein's regime."

Khalaf said the restoration plan would include “the construction of infrastructure in accordance with the requirements that are imposed on monuments included in the World Heritage List. The requirements include the construction of a building for the administration of the mosque, a consultation center for guests and the arrangement of areas. The design documents were submitted to the World Heritage Center and then forwarded to the International Council for the Conservation of Monuments and Sites for assessment.”

He concluded: “We are ready to discuss with them tourism issues and cultural investment projects regarding the Grand Mosque and other city monuments.”

Adnan Abu Zeid / al-monitor.com

The Great Mosque of Samarra (Samarra, Iraq)

Samarra is an ancient city in Iraq, 124 km north of Baghdad, which is home to one of the tallest spiral mosques in the world.

The most famous page of life ancient city associated with the arrival of Muslims in these parts: in 836, due to unrest, the Abassid caliph al-Mu'tasim was forced to move the capital of the Caliphate, and with it the entire Islamic world, from Baghdad to Samarra, where it remained until 892, after which it again returned to Baghdad. This turn of history changed the face of the city - it turned into a large shopping mall, in which beautiful palaces and mosques were built.

Construction of the mosque began in 848 and was completed in 852 during the reign of his son, Caliph Al-Mutawakkil.

Today, little remains of this majestic structure, but once it shocked the imagination with its gigantic size and monumentality. Just imagine a huge courtyard, an impressive prayer hall and a tall minaret behind an impenetrable wall with semicircular towers and sixteen entrances - all this in an area of 38,000 square meters, which could easily accommodate 80,000 people.

The wall of the mosque and the Malviya minaret, famous throughout the world for its height and intricate shape, have survived to this day. On a square pedestal with sides of 33 meters rises a cone-shaped structure with a spiral staircase that wraps around Malviya along its entire 52-meter height - from a wide base to a narrow top - and seems to screw into the very heavens. The mosque consists of 17 rows, a wall and other ancient buildings architectural ensemble It is decorated with glass mosaics in ultramarine tones, fine carvings and skillful stucco moldings.

The width of the stairs is 2.3 m - this distance easily allowed al-Mutawakkil to reach the highest turn of the ramp riding on the revered white Egyptian donkey. From there, from the top, a marvelous panorama opens onto the outskirts of the city and the valley of the Tigris River. The minaret's name means "twisted shell", which refers to the spiral shape of the staircase that winds along the walls of the minaret.

Depending on the time of day and under the influence of lighting, the walls of the mosque and the minaret are transformed, acquiring a straw, amber, brick, or golden-pink hue.

Alas, the unique building, which miraculously survived until our era, has had to suffer greatly already in the current century. In April 2005, Iraqi insurgents attempting to remove a US observation post at the top of the minaret caused an explosion that partially destroyed the top of the tower.

The Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo was built on the model of the Great Mosque in Samarra.

The Great Mosque complex is protected by UNESCO, among other antiquities of Samarra, which together form a World Heritage Site.

The spiral minaret of Malwiya, or Al-Malwiya (translated from Arabic malwiya - “twisted”, or “snail shell”), in the Iraqi city of Samarra is part of architectural complex The Great Mosque is one of the largest in the world. The tower was built in the 9th century from baked brick, representing a unique example of oriental architecture: an ascending spiral, resembling a cone from a distance, reaches a height of 52 meters. The steep climb did not allow it to be used for its intended purpose: unlike most minarets, the call to prayer was not pronounced from it. The width of the base is 33 meters, while the diameter of the highest point does not exceed six meters.

The staircase encircling the minaret begins to twist against the direction of the sun from the pedestal, forming a receding silhouette of the building. The base of the upper platform is framed by arches with pointed tops - and this is the only decorative element adorning the facade; There are no other Arabic motifs found either inside or outside the tower.

The Malviya Minaret is a visual dominant of the surrounding landscape; the cone-shaped tower, visible from several tens of kilometers away, was intended to remind of the presence of Islam in the Tigris and Euphrates valley.

If you are not planning a trip to Iraq in the near future, you can see the Malviya Tower in Malaysia, in the Taman Tamadun Islam Park, where small copies of the main shrines of Islam are presented. There are several dozen mosques and minarets on its territory. The park is located in the city of Kuala Terengganu in the northeast of the country, on the Malay Peninsula.

How to get there

Samarra is located 132 km northeast of Baghdad. The most convenient way to get to the city is by rented car; It is better to rent a car with a driver. Baghdad and Samarra are connected by highway No. 1. Travel time is about three hours.

Samarra is a city in central Iraq, 120 km northwest of Baghdad, lying on east coast R. Tiger.

Founded in 836 by Caliph al-Mu'tasim from the Abbasid dynasty (son of the legendary Harun al-Rashid); According to legend, he is also the author of the name (from Arabic surra man ra’a, “whoever sees it will rejoice”). In fact, settlements on the site of S. existed long before the official founding of the city. One of them, Surmarrati, mentioned in the inscription on the stele of Sennacherib (690 BC), apparently was located in the area of al-Khuwaysh, opposite modern S. Late ancient sources indicate the existence of a settlement in the vicinity of S. called Souma. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, in 364 (the retreat of the Roman army after the death of Emperor Julian), Fort Sumere was located on the site of the city. The modern name most likely goes back to the Aramaic Sumra (a village in the vicinity of S.; the toponym is recorded in the “Chronicle” of Michael the Syrian).

According to Arab sources, in 834-835. Caliph al-Mu'tasim was forced to withdraw military units of the Central Asian Turks from Baghdad (due to their conflicts with the local population) and begin searching for a place for new capital. The Caliph's route ran north; During one of the halts, al-Mu'tasim discovered a Christian monastery not far from his camp. The garden of the monastery, which the caliph especially liked, became the site of the foundation of the palace known as Dar al-Khilafa (836); Subsequently, the monastery became part of the complex of palace buildings as a treasury.

Under the sons of al-Mu'tasim - al-Uasik (842-847) and al-Mutawakkil (847-861) - S. not only retained the status of the capital of the caliphate, but also became the arena of intensive urban development. Over the course of 20 years, 20 palaces were erected in the city and its environs, several parks and fenced hunting grounds were laid out; in addition, tracks/arenas were built for horse racing. According to al-Mutawakkil's plan, the city was supposed to surpass in splendor all the previous capitals of the caliphate. For example, in 861, the Caliph ordered the cypress planted by Zarathustra in honor of the conversion of King Gishtasp to be cut down and delivered to S.; beams were to be made from the ancient wood for the next caliph's palace (at the time of delivery of the precious trunk, al-Mutawakkil was no longer alive).

Clickable 1500 px,Excavations of the Caliphs' Palace V Samarra, on the background mosque Mutawakkilä and its Malviya (shell) minaret.

One of the few well-preserved monuments of the urban planning activities of al-Mutawakkil (848-852). This is a grand building with an area of approx. 38000 sq. m accommodated up to 80,000 worshipers and was the largest mosque in the Muslim ecumene. At the northern wall of the mosque, at the level of its middle, rises the pseudo-seven-tiered al-Malwiyya minaret (lit. “twisted”) - a cyclopean structure, which is a cone placed on a square base (the now missing wooden pavilion installed on the upper platform was the eighth tier). The appearance of a tiered structure is created by an external spiral staircase leading from the base upward, the width of which (2.3 m) allowed the caliph to ride to the top on horseback. The height of the minaret from the base to the upper platform is 53 m.

In 859 al-Mutawakkil founded new town 15 km north of S., to which he gave his name (al-Mutawakkiliyya). Among the first, a building was erected, to which the architects gave almost complete resemblance to the large cathedral mosque in the north. This mosque, Abu Dulaf, is slightly inferior to its prototype in size (29,000 sq. m.); it also has a minaret (34 m) at the level of the middle of the northern wall (the external spiral staircase of the Abu Dulaf minaret is steeper than that of al-Malwiyya, it forms six pseudo-tiers). The reasons that prompted al-Mutawakkil to begin building the city (in fact, S.’s replica) are not known. It is believed that the completion of the work should have been a signal to move the capital to a new location. With the death of the caliph in 861, construction work was stopped.

View from the spiral minaret of Samarra and Al-Aqsa Mosque Iraq.

For 56 years, during which S. was the capital, the caliphate throne was occupied by eight people. The eighth caliph, al-Mutamed (son of al-Mutawakkil), returned to Baghdad in 884, and with his death (892) the capital was officially moved to its original location. By 894 the city was severely depopulated; Caliph al-Muqtafi, who visited S. in 903, found al-Mu'tasim's palace badly destroyed and his planned return of the capital did not take place.

In 848, al-Mutawakkil summoned the tenth imam of the Shiites, Ali al-Hadi (“the one who leads the right path”), who then lived in Medina (b. 827), to S., and settled him on the territory of the former military camp of al-Mutasima (hence the nickname al-Askari, i.e. “dweller of the camp”, or “prisoner of the camp”, which then passed to his son, the eleventh imam). Subsequently, Ali al-Hadi bought a house near the old al-Mu'tasima mosque, where he lived under public surveillance until his violent death. Shiite tradition attributes to the tenth imam knowledge of many languages (Persian, Slavic, Indian, Nabataean), sacred sciences (alchemy), the ability to foresee the future and perform miracles; he penned a treatise on free will.

In 868 Ali al-Hadi died and was buried in the courtyard of his house; The imamate passed to his middle son Hasan (b. 845). According to legend, the eleventh imam Hassan al-Askari was married to Narjis Khatun, who came from the family of Byzantine emperors and counted the Apostle Peter among her ancestors. The child from this marriage, the twelfth Imam of the Shiites (counting from Ali b. Abi Talib), was, according to the famous prophecy of Muhammad, to appear as the expected (al-muntazar) of the Mahdi (mahdi - “guided by the right path”) and Qaim (al- qa'im, “risen with a sword”, also “raising the dead”, i.e. “resurrector”). Arguing with fate, Caliph al-Mutamed strengthened supervision over Imam Hasan and made several attempts to kill him, in order to thus prevent the emergence of a legitimate contender for the caliphate. The Shiites, in turn, tried to protect the imam and his family from contact with outsiders; however, Hasan al-Askari died in 874 (supposedly as a result of poisoning) and was buried next to his father. The tafsir attributed to him was published in Iran in the last century.

Mosque al-Askari V Samarra.

The Abbasids and their supporters celebrated their victory until it became clear that Imam Hassan had managed to leave an heir. The boy, named Muhammad, was born in 868; the fact of his birth was kept secret from everyone except his immediate circle. The mysterious child was last seen going down into the basement in the courtyard of his parents' house a year before his father's death. According to one version that circulated among the Shiites at that time, he was hidden by his father in Medina. From 874 to 941, Imam Muhammad b. Hasan led the Shia community through four intermediaries (safara; plural), successively replacing each other; This period was called the “lesser concealment” (ghaybat al-sughra). In 941, a few days before his death, the fourth safir reported that the imam announced to him the beginning of the “great concealment” (ghaybat al-kubra), the period of which was determined by God himself, in connection with which the institution of mediation was abolished, and some or contacts with the community become impossible.

According to Shia belief, the “great cover-up” will last until the End of Times; the return of the Mahdi will occur at a time when evil and injustice will triumph in the world, people will almost completely lose the idea of the sacred, and everything that connects man with God will be close to extinction. Some traditions say that the appearance of the Mahdi will occur during the planetary triumph of the Antichrist (al-dajjal). The final battle between the warriors of the Mahdi, including Imam Hussein and Hazrat Isa (i.e. Jesus of the Christian tradition), and the demonized humanity opposing them, who recognized the power of the Antichrist over themselves, takes on the clear outlines of a war of Light and Darkness, Good and Evil (lit. . Reason, aql, and Ignorance, jahl), and the imam himself is endowed with the qualities of an eschatological Savior.

Clickable 1600 px Great Walls mosques Mutawakkila.

The architectural complex of Mashhad al-Askariin (literally “place of confession of faith of the inhabitants of the camp,” i.e., imams Ali al-Hadi and Hassan al-Askari) consists of two buildings: a mausoleum-mosque, crowned with a golden dome, to which two minarets are attached , and a shrine erected over the entrance to the sardab (the basement in which the last imam disappeared in 873), known as maqam ghaybat (“place of hiding”); this second building is also crowned with a dome, but it is made not of gold, but of blue glaze. In addition to the imams, the mausoleum contains the rest of Hakima Khatun, the sister of Ali al-Hadi, who preserved for posterity the circumstances of the birth and disappearance of the Mahdi, and Narjis Khatun. The first structures over the graves of imams, erected in 944-45. under Hamdanid Nasir ad-Daula, they were rebuilt many times, incl. Arslan al-Basasiri under the Buyids (1053-54) and Caliph Nasir li-Din-illah (1209-1210). The construction of the golden dome over the mausoleum of the tenth and eleventh imams was started by the Shah of Iran Nasr al-Din (1868-1869) and completed under his successor Muzaffar al-Din (1905).

Clickable 1600 px, Mosque al-Askari V Samarra

Inaret al-Malwiyya, which became a kind of symbol of S. as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, is remarkable not so much for its architectural unusualness as for the symbolic connotations associated with it. The powerful base, comparable in size to the height of the minaret (a square with a side of 33 m), gives the building a resemblance to a pyramid, and the tiered structure is clearly associated with the ziggurat that Herodotus described, i.e. with the “House of the foundation of the heavens and the earth,” the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4). Particularly significant is the presence of an external staircase connecting the base and top of the minaret; in ziggurats, this architectural element was endowed with an important sacred function - the path of the descent of the deity from heaven to earth. Jewish and Christian exegetes saw in the construction of the Tower of Babel a motive of fighting against God. In medieval midrashim, parallels are drawn between its construction and the rebellion of the “sons of God” Gen. 6:2 (2 En 7), which forced God to destroy the fallen creation with the Flood, and the idolatrous king Nimrod, who began construction, is likened to the fallen angel Shemhazai. In Muslim exegesis, especially in Persian tafsirs, Nimrod is not just a tyrant and idolater, opposed by the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), but a violent adversary of God; Having failed in the construction of the tower, he tries to fly up to heaven, and in response to an offer to repent, he challenges God to battle and dies. In light of the clarifications made, giving the appearance of a ziggurat to the minaret of the capital cathedral mosque cannot be perceived other than the self-identification of the Muslim caliph with the god-fighting king.

The minaret of al-Malwiyya, from which calls to prayer have not been heard for a long time, and the gigantic rectangle of a large mosque lying at its foot, empty and abandoned, present a truly apocalyptic spectacle, making one think about the contrast between the now uninhabited S. of the caliphs and the S. of the imams - always the crowded courtyard of the al-Askariyin mosque, crowned with a sparkling golden dome, and the residential areas located around it.

If Mecca is a symbol of the beginning of the sacred history of Muslims (the black stone of the Kaaba is the angel who accompanied Adam after his expulsion from Paradise, and the Kaaba itself is the temple restored after the flood by Abraham and Ismail), S. is the proclamation of its accomplishment. The New Babylon of the Abbasids, conceived as one of the wonders of the world - a city-palace, which in just over ten years spread flowering gardens on the terraces and raised huge minarets-ziggurats into the sky - became a warning about the short duration and illusory nature that marks the triumph of secular power over spiritual dominion . In the blindness of their own pride, the caliphs erected their Tower of Babel, unable to foresee its future desolation; with satanic cunning they exterminated the imams from the house of Ali, not knowing that their disappearance from the human plane of Existence was only the promise of the Great Return. S. caliphs - dead city, a symbol of the insignificance of the worldly before the sacred, mortal before the eternal, a monument to the fight against God and recklessness. S. imamov continues to live, reminding us of Divine justice (one of the tenets of Shiite Islam), that the night, no matter how long it may be, will inevitably give way to dawn.

But the most outstanding architectural diamond, glorifying not only Samarra, but also Iraq as a whole, was Great Mosque- a gigantic building that easily accommodated about 80,000 Muslims who regularly flooded the area of the holy place to perform namaz.

The wall and other buildings of the ancient architectural ensemble are decorated with glass mosaics in ultramarine tones, fine carvings and skillful stucco. It took almost 4 years to create the Great Mosque - the complex was built from 847 to 852, and at the time the construction of the grandiose complex was completed, it was the largest and most outstanding building among all Islamic buildings.

Clickable

The wall of the mosque and the Malviya minaret, famous throughout the world for its height and intricate shape, have survived to this day.

The width of the staircase is 2.3 m - this distance easily allowed al-Mutawakkil to get to the highest turn of the ramp riding on a sacred white Egyptian donkey. From there, from the top, a marvelous panorama opens onto the outskirts of the city and the valley of the Tigris River. The minaret's name means "twisted shell", which refers to the spiral shape of the staircase that winds along the walls of the minaret.

Depending on the time of day and under the influence of lighting, the walls of the mosque and the minaret are transformed, acquiring a straw, amber, brick, or golden-pink hue. An architectural object of rare beauty is under the protection of UNESCO and is included in the register of monuments that make up World Heritage.

If there had not been unrest in Baghdad, which forced the Abassid caliph al-Mu'tasim to think about searching suitable place for a new capital, this city would never have arisen and the world would never have seen a striking example of Muslim architecture, known as the Great Mosque of Samarra.

It was decided to build a new capital city at a distance of 124 km north of Baghdad, and over the years the city was intensively built and developed, confirming its capital status. For 56 years - from 836 to 892. Samarra remained the capital of the caliphate, during which time it turned into a bustling commercial center, the squares of which were decorated with fabulous palaces, picturesque parks and hunting grounds.

His father’s work was continued by his son, Caliph al-Mutawakkil, who invested a lot of effort and money into the prosperity of Samarra. But the most outstanding architectural diamond, glorifying not only Samarra, but also Iraq as a whole, was the Great Mosque - a gigantic building that easily accommodated about 80,000 Muslims who regularly flooded the area of the holy place to perform namaz.

The width of the stairs is 2.3 m - this distance easily allowed al-Mutawakkil to get to the highest turn of the ramp riding on a sacred white Egyptian donkey. From there, from the top, a marvelous panorama opens onto the outskirts of the city and the valley of the Tigris River. The minaret's name means "twisted shell", which refers to the spiral shape of the staircase that winds along the walls of the minaret.

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