Diyarbakir Great Mosque

     Almost six kilometers of impressive and nearly complete black basalt walls surround Diyarbakir. To the Romans, who built these walls, this key border city was known as Amida. In the seventh century the city fell to Moslem invaders so that the city today preserves a number of impressive mosques. The most interesting is the Great Mosque built in the 11th century by the Seljuk leader, Malik Shah. Sadly, the mosque, massive but plain was closed when I visited the site. However, the courtyard and in particular the western facade is breathtaking. After an earthquake and fire damaged the mosque in 1115 this facade was reconstructed using beautifully ornamented columns, capitals and moldings from a Roman theater. The architect, Hibat Allah al Gurgani created a glorious architectural concoction by fitting the columns, many of which are decorated with different interlocking designs, into a two story colonnade unified by a band of Seljuk calligraphy. Classical order is combined with late-antique decorative exuberance and Seljuk sensibility to create a building of surpassing architectural beauty.