Great Mosque of Sana'a

Great Mosque of Sana'a Al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr bi-Ṣanʿāʾ الجامع الكبير بصنعاء
Great Mosque in Sana'a.
Shown within Yemen
Basic information
Location	YEM
Geographic coordinates	15°21′11″N 44°12′54″E / 15.3531°N 44.2149°E / 15.3531; 44.2149Coordinates: 15°21′11″N 44°12′54″E / 15.3531°N 44.2149°E / 15.3531; 44.2149
Affiliation	Islam
Municipality	Sana’a
District	Sana’a
Prefecture	Sana’a
State	Yemen
Region	Yemen
Year consecrated	7th -8th century
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	In use
Status	Active
Leadership	Initially Prophet Muhammad and later Umayyad caliph al-Walid I
Architectural description
Architectural type	Mosque
Architectural style	Umayyad
Groundbreaking	630 AD
Completed	Renovation 705 and 715 AD
Specifications
Length	80 m
Width	60 m
Minaret(s)	Two
Materials	Brick and stone

Great Mosque of Sana'a (Arabic: الجامع الكبير بصنعاء‎‎ Al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr bi-Ṣanʿāʾ) is an ancient mosque in Sana'a, Yemen, just east of the old Ghumdan Palace site. Dating to the seventh century, it was reportedly built in part from the materials of the Ghumdan palace.

Local legend traces the mosque's history to the period of Muhammad. The building has undergone several renovations in later centuries. An important archaeological find was the Sana'a manuscript, discovered there during restoration in 1972. The Sana'a manuscript contains some early verses of the Quran that differ slightly from nowaday's standard version of the Quran.

The mosque was built upon the site of the Ghumdan Palace, between the two areas of Sana'a, Al-Quati and Al-Sailah. The city's souq was moved next to the mosque, affording it with greater safety because of its proximity to a religious building. Along with the mosque, the palace site also houses a prison and barracks for the armed forces, built during the Ottoman Empire.

In later years, city planning, expansion and orientation were greatly influenced by the construction of the Great Mosque and two other mosques on the city's north side. Though there are more than one hundred mosques in the Old City, the Grand Mosque is the largest and most notable of them.

According to local legend, the Prophet Muhammad was associated with the mosque's planning and construction around 630 AD (6 AH), though there is no evidence to support this. Sana'a was central in the propagation of the Islamic religion in the post-Hegira period, when most pre-Islamic structures were destroyed. Many of the archaeological finds discovered in the Great Mosque substantiate its construction to the era when Mohammed was supposed to live. The traditional history of his life places him in the period when the Ghumdan Palace and the cathedral were demolished, and the material recovered from them was used to build the mosque.