The Juma Mosque in Baku: the Friday mosque of the old city

Baku's old city has more than a dozen small mosques, almost all of them neighbourhood mosques and almost all closed to tourists. The Juma Mosque, the Friday mosque, is the one you visit: it stands in a narrow street a hundred metres from the Maiden Tower, has a stone minaret that rises above the rooftops and is still open for worship. "Juma" means Friday in Arabic, after the midday prayer of that day, the one that brings the whole neighbourhood together.

A new building on an old one

What you see today dates from 1899: a Baku merchant, Haji Shikhali Dadashov, paid for the rebuilding when the city was awash with oil money. But the site had been in use for far longer. The minaret is from the 15th century, the era of the Shirvanshahs, and beneath the building remains of an earlier temple have been found, with a 14th-century inscription recording a reconstruction after the Mongol invasion. It is said there was once a fire temple here, as is said of half the old city; it is not proven.

What it is like

Outside, Absheron limestone, the same as the whole walled city, with a low dome and the minaret on one corner. Inside, a prayer hall with the mihrab facing Mecca, carpets, light from the high windows and little decoration: Arabic calligraphy on the arches and not much else. It is not a monument to look at for half an hour; it is a place to step into for five minutes, in silence, and see how a neighbourhood mosque works.

The visit

You can go in outside prayer times, especially mid-morning and early afternoon. On Fridays at midday it is full and best not disturbed. You take your shoes off, cover shoulders and legs, and women cover their heads; scarves are lent at the entrance. There is no charge. It is two minutes from the Maiden Tower, so it fits into any walk around the old city.

Frequently asked questions