​FRIDAY MOSQUE (JUMA MOSQUE) 14th Century

​    ​Located in the southeastern part of Otyrar city, this mosque was built in the 14th century under the patronage of the renowned conqueror Amir Timur. The Friday Mosque is regarded as one of the significant examples of medieval Islamic architecture. 
    The mosque measures 60 × 22 meters, indicating its grand scale and its important role as a major religious and public building of its time. 
   The architectural design features an entrance portal positioned at the center of the northeast façade, measuring 2.7 × 1.35 meters. The portal projects outward from the main wall line, with a recess about 6 meters deep. The western pylon is preserved to a height of 1.7 meters, while the eastern one has been lost. At the corners of the portal stood towers, each 2 meters in diameter, with spiral staircases accessed through a 1-meter-wide doorway. Four of the original steps on the right side of the entrance have survived to the present day. 
    The façade composition includes four open galleries arranged in three rows, supported by 30 square pillars (1.35 × 1.35 m), spaced 3.7 meters apart.Two halls were identified near the entrance. The roof supports were mostly dismantled, except for one remaining pillar on the west side of the first hall. In the main prayer hall, in front of the mihrab, remains of two polygonal pillars were found, while those on either side of the mihrab were built in the form of square pilasters. 
      In the southern wall, where the mihrab is located, there is a doorway with a high threshold leading to a street that connected the mosque with nearby residential areas close to the city citadel. The mosque’s walls are 1.35 meters thick, and the corners of the main façade are decorated with pilaster-like structures. 
     The mosque’s architectural decoration was of exceptional artistic value. Excavations revealed glazed tiles, square and rectangular majolica panels decorated with geometric and zoomorphic motifs, and ornamental ceramic lattices (panjaras), all indicating that the mosque was originally designed as a richly adorned architectural landmark. 
     According to medieval written sources, construction of the mosque was never fully completed. After Amir Timur’s death, building activities ceased, and local inhabitants dismantled parts of the brickwork, converting the structure into a residential space. This greatly altered the monument’s original form and architectural integrity. 
     Archaeological studies confirm that the mosque was initially conceived as a grand and artistically elaborate architectural complex. Its intricate layout, variety of decorative elements, and integration with the city’s structure make it a remarkable monument of Otyrar’s medieval architecture. However, the incomplete construction and later historical circumstances negatively affected its preservation.