The Grand Mosque in
Diyarbakır is the oldest
mosque in
Anatolia. The
Mar-Tama church in the city center has been turned into
mosque by the
moslem Arabs who reigned in
Diyarbakır in 639. We understand from inscriptions that the mosque was restored in 1091 as per the instructions of the
Great Seljuk Emperor Melikşah and that it took its present shape after several restorations and additions.
The Grand Mosque which is considered as the reflection of the
Ümmiye and
Emeviye mosques built in Damascus in 705-715 due to the similarity between them is seen as the 5th Harem-i Şerif of the
moslim world. The
mosque with the maksure standing on the east and west of the courtyard in the middle , with
Hanefiler Mosque in the south,
Şafiler Mosque and
Mesudiye Madrasah in the north and
Zinciriye madrasah close to the western entrance of the mosque is like a complex bringing together the religious and cultural structures.
