The al-Muallak Mosque ( ar, المسجد المعلق ''Masjid Al-Muallaq'', he, מסגד אל-מועלק ''Misgad Al-Muallak'') also known as the Mosque of Zahir al-Umar ( ar, مسجد ظاهر العمر ) is a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
in
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
History
The mosque was built in 1758 by the
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
ruler of Acre,
Zahir al-Umar
Zahir al-Umar al-Zaydani, alternatively spelled Daher al-Omar or Dahir al-Umar ( ar, ظاهر العمر الزيداني, translit=Ẓāhir al-ʿUmar az-Zaydānī, 1689/90 – 21 or 22 August 1775) was the autonomous Arab ruler of northern Ottom ...
. It was built in a courtyard on the site of a structure commissioned by the
Crusaders and which later became the gate to the
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
ese quarter of the city. Up until 1746, the structure was used as a
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
by Acre's Jewish residents,
[Sharon, 1997, p. 38.] called the
Ramchal
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ( he, משה חיים לוצאטו, also ''Moses Chaim'', ''Moses Hayyim'', also ''Luzzato'') (1707 – 16 May 1746 (26 ''Iyar'' 5506)), also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL (or RaMHaL, ), was a prominent Italia ...
Synagogue.
The Jews still owned the building when Zahir chose to transform it into a mosque, but compensated them with a different building located in Acre's Jewish quarter.
Leftover features of the synagogue include the niche for the Holy Ark and inscriptions in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
.
Architecture
The mosque is positioned along the edge of Acre's Old City market, situated between
Khan al-Umdan
Baháʼí name: Khán-i-'Avámid
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and Khan al-Ifranj, and is risen over the street.
From the outside, the main indicators of the mosque are its low-lying dome and the round base of its former minaret.
The mosque's entrance is located beneath the original
minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
's base.
This minaret was demolished by the municipality of Acre in 1950, citing a public safety risk.
The body of the mosque is mainly constituted by a large, square-shaped prayer hall,
A triple-domed portico precedes the prayer hall's entrance.
Beside the prayer hall is a smaller room that is currently used as a library.
A stairway beneath a covered entryway leads into the courtyard.
See also
*
Jezzar Pasha Mosque
The el-Jazzar Mosque ( ar, مسجد الجزار, ; he, מסגד אל-ג'זאר, ''Misgad al-G'zar''), also known as the White Mosque of Acre, is located on el-Jazzar Street inside the walls of the old city of Acre, overlooking the eastern Medi ...
References
Bibliography
*
{{Mosques in Israel
Mosques in Acre, Israel
Former synagogues in Israel
Muallak
Muallak
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1758