The Grand Mosque and the Grand Mosque Clock Tower

The mosque is located on Divanyolu Street in the city center. It was built on the site of an earlier church, called the "Red Church", whose date of construction cannot be determined. The courtyard walls, columns, column tops and bell tower of the old structure are still present. There is no construction book of the mosque. Therefore, it is not known exactly by whom and when it was made. It is estimated to have been built by the Zengids between 1170 and 1175. After the Islamic conquests, it was named "Mosque al-Hamra" (Red Mosque) because of the red marble used in the columns and its association with the church. For the first time in Anatolia, the final meeting place is located in the Urfa Ulu Mosque, which sits on piles and opens into the courtyard with fourteen pointed arches, each woven with cross-shaped tons. There is a well in the harem part of the mosque. According to a popular belief, The handkerchief that Jesus sent to King Abgar and his apostle Thomas was left in this well. That's why the water from the well inside the mosque is considered healing. The minaret was converted into a clock tower by adding a clock during the Republican period. The minaret also serves as the city's first and only clock tower.