Great Mosque (Gaza)

The Great Mosque was originally a large Christian church , based on the site of a pagan temple dedicated to Dagon (god of plenty), in the 5th century . The church was destroyed by the Persian Sassanids at the beginning of the 7th century and was transformed into a mosque after the capture of the Gaza Strip by the Rashids.

December 5, 1033 , an earthquake destroyed the tower of the minaret . In 1149, the crusaders built a cathedral on the site of the mosque dedicated to John the Baptist . However, in 1187 , Muslims under Saladin returned the Gaza Strip and destroyed the cathedral, in its place under the Mamluks in 1344 the mosque was restored.

The Great Mosque was seriously damaged by the Allied forces during the First World War , but was later rebuilt by the Supreme Muslim Council in 1926 .

During the conflict in the Gaza Strip, between Palestinian organizations of Hamas and Fatah , the imam of the mosque (pro-Hamas) was shot dead by Fatah fighters on June 12, 2007 .

The territory of the Great Mosque is 4,100 square meters. It is known to many by its minaret, which has a square shape - in the style typical of the Mamelukes.

The mosque forms a large "courtyard" surrounded by rounded arches. When the building was converted from a cathedral to a mosque, most of the previous construction was completely replaced, but the western entrance of the mosque, columns and arches still retain their Italian, Gothic style.