Akko - Ahmed el-Jazzar Mosque

From the Land Gate in Akko, Saladin Street leads to the Ahmed el-Jazzar Mosque, the largest of the town's four mosques. Occupying the site of the Crusader cathedral, it was built by Ahmed el-Jazzar in 1781 on the model of the Ottoman domed mosques.

The courtyard of the mosque is entered by a flight of steps, on the right of which is a small Rococo kiosk. The courtyard is rectangular, with arcaded halls round three sides. The rooms round the courtyard once provided accommodation for pilgrims and Islamic ecclesiastics. In the arcaded gallery on the east side are steps leading down to a cistern dating from the time of the Crusaders which provided a water supply for the population when the town was under siege. In front of the main entrance to the mosque is a fountain for ritual ablutions with a copper roof borne on elegant columns. A small plain domed building to the right of the entrance contains the sarcophagi of Ahmed el-Jazzar (d. 1804) and his successor Suleiman Pasha (d. 1819).

The mosque itself, with its tall, slender minaret, is a fine example of Turkish Rococo architecture. The huge interior is decorated in blue, brown and white.