The oldest mosques

Mir Zubayr Mosque, Sirjan, Kerman (an Umayyad mosque)

Mosques which are known as the oldest mosques in Iran were in fact some fire temples belong to the Sassanid period,

Tarikhaneh in Damghan which was probably a Sassanid palace or fire temple, is the oldest mosque in Iran.

The minaret rising over the mosque is said to belong to Seljuks and the tiled inscription over the minaret is in fact the oldest tile work in Islamic architecture.

The prefix "Tari", a Turkish term, means God and "khaneh" means house so the word means the house of God.

The second oldest mosque in Iran is Atiq (Ancient) mosque in Shiraz

But the first really building as a mosque in Iran is the Fahraj mosque in Mehriz:

Fahraj Mosque, Mehriz, Yazd

I would mention the Grand Mosque of Cordoba (Spain, VIII - X centuries).
It is probably one of biggest mosques. Even ugly, spanish build cathedral inside of this mosque doesn't destroy its architecture.


Edited by cavalry4ever

masjid al bayah. check it out. from the time of mohammed sala allah alaih wa sallam

yeah the bihac dzamija is nice, im from cazin right next to bihac

It was the Red Mosque of Berat. But that was blwon to bit, anyway. It would have to be between these two Mosques



Only the structure on the right is the mosque, the other two are churches.



and



Its called "Xhamia e Vlores" it was built by the same man who built the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. In Albanian btw, "xhami" equals mosque. There an old saying in Albanian
"burri ne shtepi, eshte si dreqi ne Xhami"
"The man at home, is like the devil in the Mosque.

^ Albania has a lot of wise sayings.

I like "Do not drink the waters the still waters"...I can't remember many of the others I've heard.

The only one from here I really like is "Those who reach the highest peaks would freeze and starve alone  if they didn't come back down."

Viva depression. Hahaha.

Originally posted by Nick1986 I'd have thought the mosque at Mecca would have been pretty old.

The first İslamic city is not Mecca, it is Medina, so the oldest mosque is also in this city: Quba Mosque
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quba_Mosque


Anatolia
the first mosque:Habib-i Neccar Mosque in Antakya/Antioch

 
the first turkish mosque:Ebul Manucehr Mosque in Ani (Medieval Armenian Capital, near Armenia-Turkey Border)-1072

Originally posted by Cyrus Shahmiri Unfortunately Saudis give no value to the historical buildings, old mosques of Mecca, Medina and other cities of Saudi Arabia have been completely destroyed and new ones have been built.

Yes, I agree you. There is no value for historical buildings

I remember that Turkey and Turkish citizen got angry when Saudi decided to destory Ottoman Castle in Mecca

This castle wasn't anymore Ajyad Castle(1781-2002/R.I.P.)


                                                                    this complex is building on castle's hill
 

Now we have just this 1/25 scale model of the castle


I am angry with the saudi government, but when I try to think as a saudi, this is a bit acceptable.

Saudi didn't add much things in Arab world. Arab's empires reached the top in Egypt, in Iraq and in Spain, not in Arabia. That's why I don't hope them a culture of protection history and I guess,  current perspective is based on bedevi culture in saudi so you can't wait them to respect for historical buildings, their perspective is just function. This culture ia a result of living in desert and tough enviroment, you can't develop unnecessary emotions with your items, so I am angry but I can understand. 

Originally posted by Nick1986 That's terrible. They should be preserving their ancient buildings as these are the things that attract tourists

It is terrible for me as a Turk. However countries and people should protect their historical past, firstly for theirselves not for foreign people like tourists and in Saudi case, it is not a misunderstanding, not protecting the ancient building is a kind of belief or culture in Saudi

" Wahhabi religious policy that emphasizes the Oneness of God (Tawhid) and entirely rejects the worship of divine proxies to God or even the practices and habits which might lead to idolatry and polytheistic association"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_early_Islamic_heritage_sites

Originally posted by Nick1986 That's terrible. They should be preserving their ancient buildings as these are the things that attract tourists

Haha, Saudi Arabia won't even allow archeologists to excavate in the country, because it might cause people to "stray away from Islam". Sad really. Who knows what treasures lie hidden beneath the sands of the desert.

Anyway, here is the oldest mosque in my country, the Khamis Mosque, built about a thousand years ago. It's in pretty bad shape at the moment.