Al Saray Mosque ( King Ghazi Mosque )

Al Saray Mosque, also known as Hassan Pasha Mosque or Al Nasir Li Din Allah Mosque, is one of the most famous historical mosques in Baghdad on the Rusafa side. It was built in 589 AH / 1193 CE by order of the Abbasid Caliph Ahmad Al Nasir Li Din Allah (1158–1225 CE), and it remains a witness to the religious architecture of Baghdad since the Abbasid era.

The mosque is located directly opposite the Ottoman-era Government House known today as Al Qishla.

It covers an area of about 2,500 m². When first constructed, it was a small mosque, but it later fell into disrepair.

When the Ottoman governor Hassan Pasha assumed rule over Baghdad, he rebuilt and expanded the mosque, spending large sums on its restoration, transforming it into a sturdy and well-founded structure.

His most notable additions include:

A spacious winter prayer hall

A roof made up of ten slender domes vaulted with plaster and brick

Four pillars supporting the domes

A tall minaret built from colorful Kashani stone

A summer prayer area located in the western courtyard

A small school with a single teacher

A timekeeping room

Several rooms for the mosque’s caretakers

The mosque is distinguished by its solid construction free of heavy ornamentation, following a simple Abbasid–Ottoman style.

The mosque has five doors through which worshippers enter, and it hosts:

Friday prayers

Eid prayers

All the daily prayers

It also has three main gates, one of which is called the Gate of King Ghazi I, because it was installed during the restoration carried out in his reign.

It is said that all the kings of Iraq during the monarchy prayed in this mosque, giving it significant religious and official standing in Baghdad’s modern history.