Great Mosque of Samarra, Iraq

 

The Great Mosque of Samarra is a ninth-century mosque located in Samarra, Iraq. The mosque was commissioned in 848 and completed in 851 by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil who reigned (in Samarra) from 847 until 861. The Great Mosque of Samarra was, for a time, the largest mosque in the world; its minaret, the Malwiya Tower, is a spiralling cone 52 meters high and 33 meters wide with a spiral ramp. The mosque had 17 aisles, and its walls were panelled with mosaics of dark blue glass. It was part of an extension of Samarra eastwards. The mosque itself was destroyed in 1278 (656 AH) after the Hulagu Khan invasion of Iraq. Only the outer wall and its minaret remain.

The Malwiya Minaret (Arabic: ملوية‎‎ malwiyah) is part of the Great Mosque of Samarra. The minaret was originally connected to the mosque by a bridge. The minaret or tower was constructed in 848 – 852 of sandstone, and is unique among other minarets because of its ascending spiral conical design. 52 metres high and 33 metres wide at the base, the spiral contains stairs reaching to the top. The word "malwiya" translates as "twisted" or "snail shell." Source: Wikipedia 

 

Plan of the great mosque

Picture Source: Collected from Internet