Gallery
Description
Property Name: The Great Mosque of Jaffa. Mahmoudiya Mosque
Inventory No: 972-2-39
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2020-09-04
Country (State party): Palestine
Province: Jaffa
Town: Old Jaffa
Geographic coordinates: 32° 3’17.62″N
34°45’19.95″E
Historic Period: Ottoman
Year of Construction: 1735
Style: Ottoman
Original Use: Mosque
Current Use: Mosque
Architect: Unknown
Significance
The monument is an ancient mosque dating back to the Ottoman era and is located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in the old town of Jaffa, on the Martyrs Square, where the clock tower is. Its construction was completed in 1812 during the Ottoman rule. It consists of two floors and is characterized by its magnitude and next to it there is a water fountain known as Sabil Mahmudiyah or Suleiman Pasha water fountain. The mosque considered one of the few Islamic and Arab architectural monuments in the city, after the Israeli occupation demolished entire landmarks. It is the Ottoman style, with six domes and one minaret. It is considered the third mosque in Palestine after the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Selection Criteria
i. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design
ii. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
The mosque was abandoned after the Nakba of Palestine in 1948. As a result of the collective expulsion carried out by the occupation, it remained neglected, abandoned and deserted until 1982. Parts of the mosque facing the path were converted into a restaurant and bar under Israeli control. In January 2010, the Al-Aqsa Association for the Care of Endowments and Islamic Sanctities began implementing the second phase of reconstruction and restoration of the Grand Mosque of Jaffa. Restoration and maintenance work on the mosque was completed in July 2016. So that restoration work was carried out at the main entrance from the western side of the “Mahmoudiya” mosque.
References
Yusuf, Faraj Allah Ahmad. 2011. Mosques of Palestine: under the Zionist occupation. Dar Al-Qalam, 2011.
Web sources
Archnet website https://archnet.org/
The Palestinian Encyclopaedia website: https://www.palestinapedia.net/
The Palestinian News & Info Agency website: http://info.wafa.ps/