Emir Assaf Mosque

The Emir Assaf Mosque (Arabic: جامع الأمير منصور عساف), also called the Babe al-Saraya Mosque (lit. Door of the Great Serial), is a mosque, located on Weygand Street, in the central district of Beirut, Lebanon.

Emir Assaf Mosque
Arabic: جامع الأمير منصور عساف
The mosque in 2016
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Mosque
Status	Active
Location
Location	Weygand Street, Beirut central district
Country	Lebanon
Location of the mosque in Beirut
Geographic coordinates	33°53′51″N 35°30′21″E
Architecture
Type	Mosque architecture
Founder	Emir Mansur Assaf
Date established	1597
Specifications
Dome(s)	Five
Minaret(s)	One
Materials	Stone

History

The site chosen to build the mosque was on the site of the former Byzantine Church of the Holy Savior.^[1]

This mosque was inaugurated by Emir Mansur Assaf in 1597, on the former Serail Square. The Old Serail and the bath complex were replaced by Souk Sursock in the 1880s, while the Bab al-Saraya gate was removed in 1915 to make way for the new Foch-Allenby commercial district. In 1934, the mosque’s ablution rooms were built on the west side, in alignment with the street leading to Etoile Square.^[2][3] Post-war restoration of the mid-1990s lead to the renovation of the original western façade of the mosque.

Architecture

The square shape of the mosque, its five-cupola roof, the ablaq decoration of the entrance and the muqarnas detailing of the windows are characteristic of Lebanese style.^[4]

See also

• Islam portal
• Lebanon portal

• Islam in Lebanon
• List of mosques in Lebanon
• Foch-Allenby District