The Great Mosque of Sarmin

In the centre of Sarmin, a town about 9 km east of Idlib. The mosque was finished before the year 657, that is 1259; its inscriptions record a renewal in 660 (1262) and a further repair in 705 (1306). Izz al-Din ibn Shaddad and the traveller Ibn Battuta both mention it in their accounts of the town. Shelling on 4 October 2023 brought much of the building down.

Getting there

Minibuses and hired cars run from Idlib to Sarmin, a road of 9 km. The mosque stands in the town centre, inside the old fabric.

What was there

The plan is built around a rectangular courtyard ringed by arcades, with a shallow prayer hall on the southern qibla side. The qibla aisle is divided into nine bays, each covered by a small dome; few buildings in northern Syria carry so regular a set. The minaret has an octagonal shaft, rises about 18 metres and ends in a small dome. Its form is closer to the late Mamluk minarets than to Ottoman ones.

What it is like now

In 2017 the Idlib directorate of religious endowments began a limited repair, putting the minaret and the arcades back together after damage from air raids. The shelling of 4 October 2023 destroyed much of the building. Ask in the town before you go whether the site is open and what is still standing. This changes quickly.

Was it built on a church

A basalt block on the outer north wall carries a worn cross. The European traveller Corancez, who came to Sarmin in 1809, took it as proof that the mosque had been raised on an old church or monastery. Later archaeological work rejected that reading: the stone had been reused during one of the repairs, and the building had been a mosque from the start.