Tariq Basharat
Built between 1552-1564, the Juma-Jami Mosque is located in Crimea, a disputed territory between Ukraine and Russia, which was ruled by the Muslim Crimean Khanate from the 15th to the 18th century.
- Designed by the Ottoman Chief Architect Mimar Sinan (1490-1588), whose architectural achievements include the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul and Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. Sinan was busy with the construction of the Suleymaniye Mosque (1550-1557) during the building of the Juma-Jami Masjid.
- The mosque was commissioned by Devlet I Giray, the powerful Crimean Khan whose state was considered a key ally of the Ottomans and one of the main rivals of the burgeoning state of Tsarist Russia. Devlet I Giray commissioned it the year after he came to power perhaps as a way of establishing himself.
- During the Soviet period, it was turned into a museum of archaeology. It only regained its religious functions after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990.
- Its two minarets have gone through several reconstructions, the last of which came in the 1970s during the Soviet period.
Video about Mimar Sinan, the architect of the Jami-Juma Mosque and many other Ottoman mosques:
Reference: Hikma History
Abu Huzaifa
