Gaza
The Great Omari Masjid is the oldest and largest mosque in Gaza, in the Daraj Quarter of the old city. A church on the site became a mosque after the Muslim…
The Great Omari Masjid is the oldest and largest mosque in Gaza, in the Daraj Quarter of the old city. A church on the site became a mosque after the Muslim conquest in the seventh century, and it takes its name from Umar ibn al-Khattab, the caliph at the time. The Crusaders built a church here in 1149, and after Salahuddin retook Gaza the mosque was rebuilt by the Mamluks and restored several times over the following centuries. Much of its form comes from the Mamluk rebuilding of 1340 and later Ottoman restoration, and it was restored again by the Supreme Muslim Council in 1925. The Mamluks gave it its minaret and large courtyard, and the prayer hall was built around arcades of the Crusader church. The mosque lies at the eastern end of Omar al-Mukhtar Street beside Gaza's gold market, close to the Katib al-Wilaya Masjid and the Grave of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf.