Juma Jami Mosque in Yevpatoria

The Juma Jami Mosque is the largest mosque in Crimea and one of the most interesting sights of Yevpatoria. It was built in 1552 by the great Turkish architect Hoja Mimar Sinan Aga, who was more often called Sinan. The mosque is located in the historical center of Yevpatoria, next to temples of other religions. 

In the 13th-15th centuries, the Genoese owned all the coastal cities of the Crimea from Balaklava to Feodosia. The Byzantine principality of Feodoro owned the cave settlements with the capital in Mangup-Kale, and the lands of the steppe Crimea were under the rule of the Crimean Khanate.  In 1475, the Turks seized the possessions of the Genoese and Byzantines in the Crimea. They handed them over to the Crimean Khanate, establishing a protectorate over it. After that, the construction of numerous mosques began in Crimea. 

The first mosque, by order of the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, was built in the Crimea by the architect Sinan, was the Biyuk-Jami Mosque in Feodosia. In those years, Feodosia was called Kafa. It was not only the largest city in Crimea, but also one of the largest cities in Europe. The architect Sinan built this mosque in 1520.  

Sinan built the second mosque in Crimea 30 years later in Yevpatoria. In 1552, the Crimean khan Devlet-Giray received the right to the khanate in Istanbul and ordered the construction of a large mosque in Gezlev (Yevpatoria), which was called the Juma-Jami Mosque, which means the Cathedral Friday Mosque. After that, all the Crimean khans took the oath of allegiance to the sultan in this mosque. After the oath, the Crimean khan signed a special document on the right to the khanate (firman), which was kept in the Juma-Jami mosque. 

The Juma-Jami Mosque in Yevpatoria was built in the Ottoman style. This style, with a large dome in the center and cascades of domes and semi-domes on the sides, was first used in the construction of the Byzantine Hagia Sophia. Subsequently, several mosques in a similar style were erected in Istanbul. The most famous mosque of Sinan is the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. The Juma Jami Mosque in Yevpatoria is similar to it. 

The height of the dome of the Juma Jami Mosque is 21 meters. The central dome is surrounded by 10 small domes. Two minarets tower above the mosque. Their height reaches 35 meters. The Juma-Jami Mosque in Yevpatoria is one of the most ancient mosques in Russia. The oldest surviving mosque in Russia is the Juma Mosque in Derbent, built in 733.