As-Sinānīyya's was constructed towards the end of the 16th century, some years after the mosques of Murād Pāša and Darwīš Pāša, at the initiative of Sinān Pāša Cığalazade ("son of Cicala", of noble Italian origin), who was at the time governor of Damascus. It is distinguishable from the Turkish mosques of the period by the originality of its decoration which borrowed freely from the artistic styles of various Islamic provinces. Though the plan is purely Ottoman (a prayer hall covered with a single great dome and fronted by a portico with cupolas), its façade is made up of alternating black and white courses in the tradition of Damascus; a minaret faced with green glazed brick in Persian style; Andalusian motifs sculpted in stucco and painted on the pendants of the gate's vault; magnificent panels of tile from Iznik above the bays of the façade and in the prayer hall. To the south of the mosque is a small Qurʾānic school (number 4 on the map) most probably built by the same governor.
Jacques Ghislain de Maussion de Favières. Damascus, Baghdad: Capitals and lands of the caliphs. Translation to English by Edward J. Banks. Librairie orientale (Dar el-Mashreq), Beirut, Lebanon. 1972.
Jean-Paul Pascual. Damas à la fin du XVIe siècle d'après trois actes de waqf ottomans. Institut français de Damas, 1983.
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