The Great Mosques

The mosque is the defining architectural form of Islamic civilization — a space of worship, learning, community gathering, and artistic expression that has evolved across fourteen centuries and many cultures into forms of extraordinary beauty and diversity. From the austere simplicity of the Prophet's first mosque in Medina to the soaring domes of Istanbul, the intricate geometry of Cordoba, and the luminous tile-work of Isfahan, the great mosques of the Islamic world represent the highest achievements of their respective traditions.

Each great mosque tells a story: of the ruler or community that built it, of the architectural traditions it drew upon and transformed, of the cities it anchored and the scholars it housed. The Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina are sacred in themselves; the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque carry the weight of Jerusalem's spiritual significance; the Great Mosque of Cordoba embodies the splendor of Al-Andalus; and the Blue Mosque of Istanbul represents the Ottoman synthesis of Byzantine and Islamic architecture.

This collection brings together the major mosques and sacred buildings documented in this encyclopaedia, offering an architectural journey through Islamic history and across the breadth of the Muslim world.