Tour Guide, Baku, Azerbaijan
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The historical appearance of ancient Islamic architectural monuments was related to Arabs' governance and the spreading of Islam in the territory of Azerbaijan. Juma Mosque of Shamakhi is considered the first mosque in the Caucasus after the cathedral Juma Mosque of Derbent, constructed in 734.
The construction date of the mosque is dated from the governance period of the Caliphate's vicar in the Caucasus and Dagestan, Arabic commander Maslam ibn Abd-al Melik, brother of Umayyad caliph Valil I (705-715), by whom Shamakhi was chosen as the residence. In these years, Arab governors, strengthening towers of this ancient city with a rich cultural heritage, began the construction of new structures in its territory. Arabs attached great importance to Shamakhi, which is visible from the great architectural appearance of the Juma Mosque.
Many demolitions and damages of the Juma Mosque during the battles and earthquakes were the reason for restorative reconstructions of the mosque's building. According to Imadeddin Isfahani - a chronicler of Seljuq's epoch, beginning from 1123, Shirvanshah rulers resorted to Seljuq's sultan Mahmud (1118-1131) for defence from forays of Georgians. The chronicle says that "the assailants demolished the mosque, knocked down the minaret, plundered in the city" at that time in Shamakhi.
The first construction of Juma Mosque was begun at the end of the 12th century and was related to the considerable damage of Juma Mosque's building suffered from partial forays and was conditioned by the strengthening of Shirvanshakh's power during the reign of the ruler Manuchehr III, by whom were built new constructions and strengthened the city walls. Historian-archeologist Jiddi, relying on historical sources and books about construction, reported about a sobriquet "The Great Khagan", how Manuchehr II was called due to his great merits. At that time, the eminent Persian poet Khaqani, a native of Shamakhi, wrote that "the glory of his city overshadowed the glory of Bukhara". Archaeological excavations held in 1970 in the territory of the mosque confirmed the considerable constructional and architectural changes dated from that epoch. A significant amount of madrasah, cell huts and graves were found during the archaeological excavations.
The second construction of the mosque was made in the 17th century, during the reign of the Safavid Dynasty. Evliya Çelebi-Turkish, scientist-traveller visiting Shamakhi in 1656, said that Juma Mosque is the largest religious construction of the city, among others. Evliya Chelebi reports about some structural changes of the Juma Mosque during the Safavids' epoch.
The third reconstruction of the mosque was made in 1860 by province architect Hajibababeyov after the great damage of the building by the earthquake in 1859. This reconstruction was made based on draft images of Russian artist Grigory Gagarin.
The fourth reconstruction was begun after the strongest earthquake in 1902, which was demolished and damaged many Shamakhi buildings. For the complete reconstruction of the mosque, philanthropists gathered donations and created a special committee. Primarily, the rebuilding of the mosque was charged to the eminent Azerbaijani architect of that time-Ziverbey Ahmadbeyov, a native of Shamakhi city. One of the conditions of the architect was the preservation of external of the mosque. Still, the committee didn't agree with that, which became the reason for the architect's discharge from the subsequent works of the mosque's reconstruction. Continuation of the work in the mosque was offered to the architect Józef Plośko. Variation of the project, presented by Józef Plośko in 1909, provided a considerable change of façade and external look of the mosque. The project was based on the foundation of the elder plan and results of the uncompleted construction, but there appeared orderly flanking minarets on it, and open balconies with light pavilions, the symmetric-axial composition of the mosques with pair minarets were completed by a great central cupola. Such planning was used in the 15th century to construct the Tabriz school of architecture for the first time and adopted architectural features of Shirvanshahs' Palace ensemble in Baku. The construction of the mosque based on Józef Plośko's project was charged to D.Sadykhbeyov, but such important elements as the central cupola, side minarets, gallery, portal and central stair platform were deleted from the project during the work because of the deficiency of financial resources.
In December 2009, a governmental order about the restoration of the Juma mosque of Shamakhi was issued.
The Juma Mosque Complex has always been distinguished with its volume and silhouette among cultic and civil monuments of Azerbaijan because of the correlation with earlier monuments of Islamic architecture, keeping its composition centre. The only extant sketch of the Juma Mosque was made in 1847 by Russian architect G.Gagarin from life, who portrayed architectural monuments and other cities of Azerbaijan in his pictures. Just these pictures make an idea about the external look and internal ornamentation of the old Juma Mosque. The ancient internal planning organization of the mosque has been kept till now, despite the multiple reconstructions. The mosque's three-hall structure, the three-section internal area, covered with central and not great side cupolas are seen in G.Gagarin's pictures. The central pointed dome, pillars of side sections and oblong interior of the main hall of warship make Juma Mosque similar as Juma Mosque of Derbent. The plan of the mosque is rectangular. The size of the mosque is 46 meters in length and 28 meters in width. It has a large warship hall, divided into three separate quadratic sections related to each other by open and large apertures. Each part of the mosque has a separate mihrab and aperture for entrance. Juma Mosque is called a three-hall mosque because of such a plan. Such kind of planning reminds of the planning organization of the well-known Great mosque of Umayyads in Damask, built in 708. Juma Mosque of the 8th century in Aghsu, which was destroyed during the fire in 1918, differed from analogical planning. The frequent constructions enabled to keep initial internal outlines and foundation of the mosque as a whole. However, the internal ornamentation and some details of the external façade suffered definite modifications. Archaeological researches showed that plan of the building remained invariable, despite the multiple reconstructions.
Most considerable modifications to the architectural structure of the mosque were made on Józef Plośko's project. The architect added elements of Eastern architecture, taking traditions of Islamic architecture as a principle of that time to his project. The planning structure of the Juma Mosque should be supplemented with dynamic content and special picturesqueness in Józef Plośko's interpretation. Eliminating side abutments of the warship hall, the architect tried to create the most solid and monumental interior. For creating the same size of three mosque halls, the architect with specific artistic-plastic expressiveness conceived non-traditional construction, the metallic carcasses produced in Warsaw for the Shirvan zone of the cupola. To strengthen the composition's significance, Plośko developed high multiple-window lodgement to which the central cupola leaned. There should be four decorative minarets around it. Ornamental decorations, shebeke (window frameworks with gashed patterns) and decorative pillars were also intended to be in the project.