The Agdam Mosque ( az, Ağdam məscidi) or Juma Mosque ( az, Cümə məscidi) is a mosque in the

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Aghdam Aghdam ( az, Ağdam) is a ghost town and the nominal capital of the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan. Founded in the 18th century, it was granted city status in 1828 and grew considerably during the Soviet period. Aghdam lies from Stepanakert at ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

History

Construction

The mosque was built by the architect

Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi ( az, Kərbəlayı Səfixan Sultanhüseyn oğlu Qarabaği) (c. 1817 - 1910) was an Azerbaijani architect and one of the representatives of Karabakh architecture schools. Buildings by Kerbalai Sefikhan Karabagi included ...

from 1868 to 1870, in the typical style for mosques in the

Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura (Caspia ...

region, which included the division of stone columns on the two-story gallery and the use of domed ceilings. Other mosques in this style include Barda Mosque, the

Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque ( az, Yuxarı Gövhər Ağa məscidi, Armenian: վերին մզկիթ) is a mosque located in the city of Shusha, Azerbaijan, in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The mosque also bears the name ''Boyuk Juma'' ...

Shusha / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...

, a mosque in the city of Fuzuli and one in the village of

Horadiz Horadiz is a city and municipality in the Fuzuli District of Azerbaijan, located on the left bank of the Aras river. As of 2019, it had a population of 7,600 people. History During the Russian Empire, the village of Horadiz was part of the Jebra ...

Armenian occupation

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh war, Agdam was used by Azerbaijani forces to fire

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" (russian: БМ-21 "Град", lit= hail) is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first comba ...

long-range missiles at the Armenian populace of

Stepanakert / az, Xankəndi, italic=no , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = File:StepanakertCollage.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = From top left: Holy Mother ...

. Aghdam later came under the control of Armenian forces. After the capture, according to eyewitnesses, the city was plundered, destroyed and burned. The Agdam mosque, the only building left standing in Aghdam, has been vandalized with graffiti and used as a stable for cattle and swine. A narrative of "barbarous Armenians who turn mosques into pigsties" would become an important component of mobilization in Azerbaijan in the prelude to the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of ...

. In 2009, the

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan ...

began funding measures to preserve Islamic monuments. According to Artsakh officials the surroundings of the Agdam mosque were cleaned from the rubble and fenced in 2010. The

RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

journalist Stepan Lohr, who visited Agdam in 2011, posted photos of the mosque with no roof, and what he described as "the neglected and damaged interior of Agdam's once-glorious mosque". File:Aghdam_Azeri_Mosque.jpg, Interior of the mosque in 2000 File:Transkraina71.JPG, Entrance of the mosque in 2013 File:Agdam_Mosque2018-8.jpg,

Mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

of the mosque in 2018 File:Agdam_Mosque2018-15.jpg, General view and surrounding landscape in 2018

After Second Nagorno-Karabakh war

Following Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Nagorno-Karbakah war, it regained the district of Agdam through the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement is an armistice agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. It was signed on 9November by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Pre ...

on 20 November 2020. Three days later, president

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

and first lady

Mehriban Aliyeva Mehriban Arif gizi Aliyeva (; az, Mehriban Arif qızı Əliyeva Paşayeva, ; born 26 August 1964) is an Azerbaijani politician and physician who is the vice president and First Lady of Azerbaijan. She is married to Ilham Aliyev, the president o ...

visited the ruins of the city and the Agdam mosque. Aliyev gifted a

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

from

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

to the mosque. After the ceding of Agdam back to Azerbaijan, the first

Friday prayer In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...

in 28 years was held in the mosque by the last imam of the mosque and Azerbaijani soldiers.

References

{{Mosques in Azerbaijan Mosques completed in 1870 19th-century mosques Mosques in Azerbaijan Aghdam District Buildings and structures in Aghdam Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi buildings and structures

History

Construction

Armenian occupation

After Second Nagorno-Karabakh war

See also

References