Zəviyyə məscidi

Zaviyə Mosque — a historic-architectural monument located at the intersection of Heydar Aliyev Avenue and Tabriz Street in the city of Nakhchivan, in the Zaviyə neighborhood.

History

The Arabic term meaning corner, nook, or angle, zaviyə is one of the names of dwellings belonging to Sufi orders. In zaviyəs, like in khanagahs, dervishes of various orders lived and gathered disciples around them to spread their ideas. In the first centuries after the emergence of Islam, the cells of Christian monks, small Muslim mosques, or prayer rooms were also called zaviyə. In the Maghreb countries, a zaviyə functioned as a complex of religious buildings consisting of a mosque, school, saint’s tomb, and inn. Later, North African saints began to call the buildings they lived in with their students and followers also zaviyə or ribat. In general, during the Middle Ages, the term zaviyə was one of the names for the dwellings of Sufi brotherhoods and their followers. They were also considered places of worship and cultural‑educational centers. In the Middle Ages, some order adherents in Nakhchivan did not go to mosques but built separate tekkes and zaviyəs for themselves, lived there and practiced dhikr. The Hurufi order called such dhikr places khanagah, while the Bektashi and Naqshbandi called them zaviyə.

Construction

The external architectural appearance, plan layout, and unique composition of the mosque, which belongs to the Nakhchivan architectural school, show that it is a product of the rich building traditions of the 17th–18th centuries. In the 17th–18th centuries, Azerbaijani architecture displayed new construction trends alongside the traditions of the previous period. This change in building types was mainly related to a broader fulfillment of religious needs. Although the building of the Zaviyə Mosque appears rectangular at first glance, it has a complex architectural structure. The building is placed on a podium 1 m above the ground. The total area is 212 m², and the wall thickness varies from 0.9 to 1.5 m. The main thickness is 90 cm. It was built of baked brick and lime mortar. The bricks come in two sizes. Yellow bricks measuring 20 × 20 × 5 cm were used in the main construction of the building. During the major reconstruction of the mosque in the second half of the 19th century, red bricks measuring 26 × 13 × 5 cm were used more extensively. These bricks were later also placed in the eastern and northern walls, in the partitions of rooms, in the added annex at the top of the minaret and building, in the parapet, and also widely in the façade. The Zaviyə Mosque differs completely from other religious buildings in Nakhchivan both in its plan layout and in the forms of its individual parts. It is very likely that during repair works at the end of the 19th century, new constructions and forms were added, significantly altering the building’s architectural structure; the cracked tiles and spherical domes used in earlier constructions were replaced by the 19th‑century complex linear tiles and a flat roof. Therefore, determining the exact construction date of the building is difficult. The current interior layout consists of a large prayer hall, an adjoining vestibule, two‑storey auxiliary rooms, and a minaret with winding stairs. Since the spherical domes of the hall and other structures were destroyed, they were replaced in the late 19th century with flat linear coverings. The building has three entrance doors: one from the west, one from the north, and one from the courtyard on the east side. The main entrance is from the west. The western portal is built in a straight‑line form and shaped like an iwan. The iwan is accessed by marble stairs. From the portal door, one enters a vestibule shaped like a triangle on one side. The vestibule area is 19.8 m². To the right of the vestibule is a cell‑type prayer hall measuring 5.5 m in height and 88 m² in area. There is also an entrance to the hall from the south. On each of the south and west walls of the hall, three lattice windows measuring 0.9 × 3.2 m are installed. The mihrab of the prayer hall, measuring 1.7 × 5.15 × 5.5 m, is placed as a separate compartment in the east wall. The mihrab’s vaulted tiled covering and other decorations were filled with plaster and turned into a flat surface after numerous repairs. To the left of the vestibule are two doors. One leads to the winding stairs of the minaret, the other to the auxiliary rooms. Wooden stairs lead to the second‑storey rooms intended for women. Between this prayer room and the main hall there is a window. The main façade of the building consists of a centrally placed iwan portal, three long lattice windows, and a relatively low minaret. The annex and the building’s top, which do not match the main façade and feature a parapet with a repeating cracked‑tile motif, were added later. The four rectangular column projections and the centrally placed circular openings in the annex appear as completely foreign elements on the building’s façade.

In the 20th century the building was used for a club, pioneer house, religious administration, etc. Until 2007 the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Women's Assembly was located here. In 2008 it underwent major renovation and restoration.