Mansouri Great Mosque

The Mansouri Great Mosque or Grand Mansouri Mosque (المسجد المنصوري الكبير) is a mosque in Tripoli, Lebanon, also known as the Great Mosque of Tripoli. It was built in the Mamluk period, from 1294 to 1298. This was the first building to be erected in Mamluki Tripoli.

History
The Grand Mansouri Mosque is one of the most important parts of historic Mamluk Tripoli. It was begun by Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil in 1294 AD, five years after his father, Sultan Al-Mansur Qalawun, defeated the Crusaders and conquered the city in 1289. Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad, another son of Qalawun, added the vaulted corridors around the courtyard in 1314, giving the mosque its current shape.

The Grand Mansouri Mosque was built on the ruins of an earlier Crusader church. The current minaret tower was probably part of the Church of St. Mary, possibly with Lombard elements. The mosque's main entrance also appears to incorporate a former Crusader church gate. The rest of the mosque, however, is a creation of Muslim creation dating from after the Mamluk conquest of the city.

Six madrasas were built around the mosque during the Mamluk period: al-Khayriyya Hasan (circa 1309 or after), al-Qartawiyya (founded circa 1326), al-Shamsiyya (1349), al-Nasiriyya (1354–60), and al-Nuriyya (14th century), and an unidentified "Mashhad" Madrasa.

The mosque also served as a community center for the city's population. This role would continue to the present day. As one of the largest and most important religious centers, located at the heart of the old city, the mosque special significance to the city. It played a social, political, and cultural role primarily during the colonial period, when the mosque would serve as the site for non-violent resistance movements against the French Mandate over the region.

Architecture
The mosque has a square shape and an area of 3224 sq meter. It is not heavily ornate compared to other Mamluk-era mosques in the city, like the Taynal Mosque. It is characterized by its simple, clear design. The center has a square pavilion under which is a water basin for ablution (wudu). The courtyard is surrounded by vaulted corridors to the north, east, and west, while the main prayer hall is in the south. The prayer hall has seven large doors and is divided into vaulted spaces by seven arches. On the southern wall of the prayer hall are two mihrabs and a wooden minbar adorned with geometric motifs that date back all the way to the late 13th century.

Relics
To the right of the prayer hall is a small space called "The Room of the Holy Sepulcher". This room allegedly includes a hair of Muhammad in a box made out of pure gold. The Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II offered this hair as a gift to the inhabitants of the city of Tripoli. The hair is taken out of the box only twice a year, the last Friday in the holy month of Ramadan and after dawn prayer in Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Decree).