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The first mosque in Azerbaijan

Shamakhi Juma Mosque, one of the oldest Muslim temples in Azerbaijan, as well as in the South Caucasus and the Middle East, was built in 743 in honor of the arrival of khalifa Khalid ibn Waliyah’s brother Muslim ibn Waliyah to Azerbaijan. Shamakhi’s greatest landmark is Juma Mosque, one of Azerbaijan’s largest and most lavish places of worship. While the current structure was reconstructed in 2013, the earliest version was built way back in 743AD, making this the second oldest mosque in the Caucasus and the oldest in Azerbaijan. Since then it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, most notably during the devastating earthquake that reduced Shamakhi to rubble in 1859 and later by inter-ethnic clashes in 1918. Besides discovering its historical and religious significance, you can enjoy simply basking in the site’s elegance and tranquillity.