Grand Mosque of Cizre

Cizre Grand Mosque, a historic place of worship located in the Dağkapı Neighborhood in the center of the district of Cizre, Şırnak province.

It is thought that the initial construction of the mosque occurred in the 7th century, when it was converted from a church to a mosque in the early years of Islam’s entry into Anatolia. It has undergone many repairs; its separate rectangular base and round-bodied minaret were built in 1155. The metal door and the bronze door handles with dragon figures, an important work of the art of carving, are among the most important features of the building. One of the monumental door and handles dated to the 13th century is now in the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in Istanbul. The other handle was smuggled abroad in 1969.

History

In the 7th century, in the early years of Islam’s entry into Anatolia, it was a building converted from a church to a mosque. The mosque has eight inscriptions. From these inscriptions it is understood that it was repaired during the Abbasid period, that it was rebuilt by Emir Ali Sencer, son of Zengi Atabeg Baz Shah, in 1160, and that it underwent repairs in 1203 and 1284. The mosque was repaired in the Republican era in 1946; it was restored in 2007 by the General Directorate of Foundations. After the General Directorate of Foundations determined that the 2007 restoration work was not carried out in accordance with the original, restoration work was restarted in 2013 within the “Şehr-i Nuh Diriliyor” project prepared by the governorship. The building was closed for worship again in 2020 for maintenance.

Architectural features

The rectangular-plan building of cut stone is covered with a drum dome. To the north are a courtyard and madrasa rooms, and on the north façade wall there is a brick minaret rising on a base. The minaret, which tapers from bottom to top, has no balcony; it ends with a conical spire and its only decoration consists of tiled panels on its four sides. In the middle of the courtyard there is a hexagonal-plan, dome-covered fountain. The mosque is accessed from the courtyard surrounded by madrasa rooms through seven doors. The famous monumental door of the mosque is the central one of these seven doors.

Main entrance gate

The wings of the mosque's main entrance gate, dated to the 13th century, are inlaid with geometric decorations of copper on wood and are adorned with brass plates, copper rods and sheets. On both sides of the door wing, three medallions are placed one above the other, with a twelve-pointed star at the center. Between them there are two whole and two half medallions that are completed when the wings close.

Door handles

The bronze door handles placed above the door are shaped like lion heads seen between two dragons. They are decorated with engraving technique. The dragons are linked to each other by their tails, and eagle heads are at the ends of the tails. These handles are thought to be the work of the period's physicist and artist El‑Cezeri. One of the door handles was stolen abroad in 1969. It is in the David Samling Museum in Copenhagen. The other has been exhibited in the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts since 1976.