Great Mosque of Samarra

الجامع الكبير بسامراء

The world's largest mosque of its age (851) with the spiral 'Malwiya' minaret in Abbasid Samarra.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Levant & Iraq
Identifiers
Wikidata
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

In time

8500851085208530

Architecture

Overview

The Great Mosque of Samarra, built by al-Mu'tasim and al-Mutawakkil in 851. In its time it was the largest mosque in the world with its wide courtyard; its spiral minaret, the famous Malwiya, remains. 1

Legacy

A symbol of Samarra and of Abbasid architecture; the image of the Malwiya was printed on the Iraqi currency. 1

People and things also explored

Abu Dulaf Mosque, Samarra· Great Mosque of Adana· Ahi Çelebi Mosque, Istanbul· al-Aqmar Mosque, Cairo· al-Attarine Madrasa, Fez· al-Janad Mosque, Ta'izz· al-Mansur Mosque (Kasbah Mosque), Marrakesh· Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Mosque, Cairo

Sources

  1. Wikidata
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Great Mosque of Samarra”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/building/al-jami-al-kabir-samarra/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-17.

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Objects

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Related

Abu Dulaf Mosque, Samarra

Draft card for the Abu Dulaf Mosque of Samarra, built by the Abbasid al-Mu'tamid about 860 with a smaller spiral minaret in the style of al-Mutawakkil's; the encyclopedia entry is not yet checked on the page.