Al Mardiniya Mosque
About the place
- Country : Syria , Damascus
- Address : White Bridge Square, Damascus, Syria
- Category : Mosques
- Establishing Date : 610 AH / 1213 AD
- founder : Aziza al-Din Akhsha Khatun
Al Mardiniya Mosque
Overview:
• It is located on the edge of the "Thora" river, close to the "White Bridge" area, in what is known today as the square of the martyr "Omar Al-Abrash" in Salihiya.
• It was built in 610 AH / 1213 AD.
• There was a variation in the name of this building. According to Ibn Tulun, it is the “Mardiniya Mosque” and teaching is held there, and according to others it is the “Mardiniya School.”
Historic overview:
• “Aziza al-Din Akhsha Khatun” [the daughter of Qutb al-Din, the owner of Mardin and the wife of King “Isa” ibn al-Malik “Abu Bakr Ayoub”] established the “Mardiniya School” - whose name came from the name of the city - and endowed for it several orchards and shops, and she stipulated that the person who teaches in it is not a teacher in other schools.
• Like all schools, it had a mosque and a grave in it, all of it turned into a mosque bearing its name to this day, after it was stopped from teaching (the endower was not buried in it, but in Makkah Al-Mukarramah).
• Two hundred years later, the Mamluk prince "Asanak bin Azdmar" was buried there, and then turned into a grave for the "Al-Muayyad" family. These graves were transferred to "Bab Al-Saghir" cemeteries in 1969 AD when the school was restored.
• The school remained steadfast despite the disappearance of many historical monuments in the neighboring area and continued its educational activity until the Ottoman era.
• Then, only the White Bridge Mosque and a recently renovated minaret remain, and a modern four-storey building opposite the mosque, which is one of the endowments that Aziza endowed for the Mardiniya School.
Architectural description:
• Today it overlooks the White Bridge, consisting of a prayer hall and a courtyard, in which there is a well-made square pool, and beside it are two eastern and western iwans.
Resources:
Al-Daris by Al-Nuaimi 1/454
Al-Morouj Al-Sondusia by Ibn Kattan pg. 42 and 54
Monadanat Al Atlal by Badran p. 205
Al Zeel Ala Themar Al Maqased for Talas p. 16
Khutat al-Sham by Allabi pg. 414
esyria.sy/edamascus website
dictionnaire website
esyria.sy website
naseemalsham website
vb.elmstba website
