Gallery
Description
Property Name: Al-Masjid As-Saghir, Haifa
Inventory No: 972-2-43
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2020-09-11
Country (State party): Palestine
Province: Haifa
Town: Old city
Geographic coordinates: 32°48’53.89″N
35° 0’12.51″E
Historic Period: Ottoman
Year of Construction: 1761
Style: Ottoman
Original Use: Mosque
Current Use: Closed
Architect: Unknown
Significance
An ancient mosque built back to the Ottoman era in Palestine. It is located in the old city of Haifa. It was built by the ruler of Galilee, Zahir al-Omar, in 1761, the year modern Haifa was founded by him. It is considered the oldest mosque in the city at all. The remains of the original mosque have preserved their L-shape, consisting of two interconnected rooms. In front there are three arches, including those for the entrance to the building. The mosque also contains a single conical minaret of Ottoman architecture.
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
currently, it is closed and Muslims are not allowed to restore it or to use it. In 1948, after the Battle of Haifa, the occupation destroyed most of the homes in the old city in which the mosque is located, but it did not demolish some mosques and churches, including this mosque.
References
Yusuf, Faraj Allah Ahmad. 2011. Mosques of Palestine: under the Zionist occupation. Dar Al-Qalam, 2011.
Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities website: http://www.mota.ps/
Archnet website: https://archnet.org/
The Palestinian Encyclopaedia website: https://www.palestinapedia.net/
The Palestinian News & Info Agency website: http://info.wafa.ps/