This is a list of former mosques in Portugal in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

used during the

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...

period (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for Mosque is: Mesquita

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: Masjid). The term former mosque in this list indicates any

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, ...

(building) or site used for Islamic Prayer (

Salah (, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba wit ...

) in Portugal during the Islamic occupation of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. Most of the former Portuguese mosques were built and used as Muslim places of worship during the

era when several Muslim

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

kingdoms and empires ruled large parts of the

including most of modern Portugal. Many former mosques and Islamic religious buildings were either demolished altogether or converted into churches, after the Christian

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

of Iberia. However, this list does not include the

former mosques in Spain A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature. A former may become an integral part of th ...

that were built during

Al-andalus Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...

period. Mosques were important buildings during Arab rule in Portugal. They formed an important part of

Moorish architecture Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture which developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus (on the Iberian peninsula) and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (part of the Maghreb). The term "Moorish" com ...

. Portuguese mosques and religious buildings had a square plan layout.

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 ...

towers were normally built in a corner of the mosque. They were used for announcing the Islamic prayer call known as

Adhan Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mos ...

, five times a day. The

qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...

or direction the faithful should face when performing Islamic prayers (

) was indicated by a small niche called

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 ...

on the main wall. The mihrab and minaret usually projected out from the main walls of the mosque. In some ancient mosques like the former Great mosque of Silves, water tanks or cisterns were built to store and supply water for

Wudu Wuḍūʾ ( ar, الوضوء ' ) is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The 4 Fardh (Mandatory) acts of ''Wudu'' consists of washing the face, arms, then wiping the head and the feet ...

, the washing ritual performed before prayers. Horseshoe arches were a distinctive Iberian Moor architectural feature. They were commonly used to frame doorways, windows or just as decoration in Portuguese mosques. Four horseshoe doorways which opened into an inner courtyard or

Sahn A ''sahn'' ( ar, صَحْن, '), is a courtyard in Islamic architecture, especially the formal courtyard of a mosque. Most traditional mosques have a large central ''sahn'', which is surrounded by a ''Riwaq (arcade), riwaq'' or arcade (architect ...

, remain in Mertola mosque.

Mihrabs 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 ...

, horseshoe arches and door frames were decorated with detailed patterns formed by intertwining lines, known as arabesques. They had patterns of geometric and floral motifs. Simple shapes, repeated in symmetrical arrays giving a beautiful artistic finish. Due to the shorter exposure to Islam and substantially quicker Portuguese Reconquista re-establishing the Christian religion and cultural values in every aspect, the minority Islamic legacy assimilated into the mainstream Portuguese and dissolved over time. Unlike neighbouring Spain where a significant number of these original mosques and religious structures are still standing, scattered more or less all over the country. There is no unmodified ancient mosque left in Portugal, the best preserved example being Mértola’s modified former mosque (turned into a church in the 12th century) and a few more structures in the South of the country.http://www.museunacionalarqueologia.gov.pt/wp-content/uploads/Cat-Portugal-Islamico-COMP.pdf

List of former mosques in Portugal

''Note'': ''Mesquita'' means mosque in the

language.

References

{{Reflist Mosques, former

List of former mosques in Portugal

See also

References