Sundu Mosque

Sundu Mosque or Mosque Sundu — a religious monument in the administrative territory of the village of Sundu, Gobustan district. The mosque was built in the Shirvan architectural style from white limestone. It is currently in operation.

History

Mosque Sundu is located in the center of the village, to the west of the village spring, at a distance of 100 meters from it, on the right side of the road. The mosque was constructed in a rectangular shape. Its architectural plan with a dome is similar to that of the Shah Mosque, which is part of the Shirvanshah Palace complex. The mosque also has cells for a kitchen. Currently it has no minaret.

In the countries they conquered, Muslims built mosques, madrasas and other religious buildings to widely spread Islam, the final heavenly religion. Most architects consider the centrally domed, rectangular‑plan mosque in the village of Sundu to be among the first mosques built in the Caucasus.

The construction date of the mosque is written in Arabic on the stone inscription above the entrance gate. The inscription records that the mosque was built in the year 307 of the Hijri calendar (920 AD). In addition, the inscriptions also note that the mosque was restored twice, in the year 1070 of the Hijri calendar (1757 AD) and in the year 1295 of the Hijri calendar (1878 AD).

The mosque operated independently until 1920 and a school providing religious education under the mosque served the village residents. At that time (1920) the imam of the mosque was Haji Nasrullah afandi. After the Soviet authorities were established in Azerbaijan in 1920, the mosque’s activity was halted and it was used as a grain warehouse until the 1990s. In 1997 the mosque was registered with the Ministry of Justice and resumed its activity with the permission of the Caucasian Muslims Office. Restoration work on the mosque was carried out in 2003.