Abu'l-Fida Mosque

Abu'l-Fida Mosque

Overview:

• “Abu Al-Fida Mosque” is located in Al-Asi Square in the city center, bordered to the north by Al-Hader Al-Kabir, to the south by the Al-Sabuniya neighborhood, to the west by Al-Mansuriya market, to the east by Al-Sharia neighborhood, and on the western side of the “Bab Al-Jisr” neighborhood.

• The mosque is considered one of the important landmarks in Hama. It is the oldest mosque in Hama and a witness to the nobility and originality of the city.

Historic overview:

• His name was derived from the king of Hama, "Ismail bin Ali Al-Ayyubi", known as "Abu Al-Fida", who built it in the locality of Bab Al-Jisr on the northern bank of the Orontes River in 1326 AD. Then, "Abu Al-Fida" built a tomb for him in the north of the mosque, and a dome was built above it and next to it octagonal minaret.

• The common people call it “The Mosque of Serpents - Jamea Al Hayyat” or “jamea Al Hayaya” because it has two windows in its eastern façade and the same in the western, between each of them is a marble column composed of eight similar sides and wrapped on each other like serpents.

• The place of this mosque was originally a burial place for the founder of the Ayyubid kingdom and its first Ayyubid king, "Al-Muzaffar I Taqi Al-Din Omar bin Shah Ayyub", but the location of the tomb is unknown.

• After the construction of the mosque, King Abi Al-Fida built the square, the dome, the bathroom, and the waterwheel to the west of the mosque. He called all of them "Al-Dahishiya", because the beholder or the one who enters it is amazed by what he sees of the beauty of the site, the tightness of the construction, the good engineering and the exquisite decoration. With the passage of time, nothing remained of the "Dahishiyah" except its mosque and its waterwheel (norai).

Resources:

zamanalwsl website

esyria website

The website of the Syrian Ministry of Tourism

Hama National Geographic Facebook page

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