Photo: architectural monuments, other places, Juma mosque, Derbent

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Juma Mosque: Entrance for Unbelievers is Permitted

Architectural Monuments • Other places

It’s impossible to pass by Juma Mosque in Derbent. The oldest mosque in Russia was built in the first half of the 8th century as a Friday mosque. Believers from seven small mosques, located in different parts of the old city, came here for Juma Namaz (prayer). The image of the Juma Mosque gradually changed: in the XIV century it was rebuilt after a major earthquake, and in the XV century the building of Madrasah (or Madrasa) was added. The entire Juma Mosque complex was finally formed only in the XVIII century and included the main three-nave building without minarets, with a dome, madrasah, residential buildings and a courtyard.

It is very tranquil and peaceful in the territory and inside the Juma Mosque. Three millennial plane-trees grow in the courtyard, with benches placed under them. There is a small pagan pillar in the center of the courtyard, which is a sundial at the same time. The legend has it that 56 kg of eyes, which once belonged to insurgents, cruelly punished by the ruler Nadir Shah, are buried under it. The Juma Mosque belongs to the Shiite branch of Islam, but anyone can enter it, irrespective of religion. You have to take off your shoes at the entrance, and women must wear a special long cloak — hijab. The mosque is worth a visit to listen to its history.

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