This was a stop on a drive to the east of Ashgabat. It’s the shrine of the Seyit Jamal Addin Mosque. It’s a shrine because the mosque was destroyed by the 1948 earthquake. I’m mostly including this post to show some specific damage caused by that 1948 earthquake since most everything else was cleaned up and rebuilt.

The mosque was built in 1456. It’s about ten miles east of Ashgabat. It was originally in the southern part of the old fortress of Bagabad in an extensive religious complex that included the mosque, a madrassa (school), and accommodations for pilgrims. It was famous for its depiction of two great mosaic dragons high on the portal, as if guarding the central arch. There was a long story that went with the dragons. Turkmen researchers did their best to piece together the mosaic fragments from the dragons and that work is on display at the Museum of Fine Art in Ashgabat. While it is now a shrine, it is a shrine to which local people still make a pilgrimage today. It was a hot and dusty day but there were local people here with us.

The first photo shows the largest chunk of remains. I include this to show several things but especially the thickness of the walls. It had to take a big earthquake to knock over those walls. While the outside was faced with bricks, the insides included lots of rocks and rubble.

You can see a photo of the mosque taken in 1947 by a Soviet archeological expedition in the second photo along with a piece of what is left today.

This mosque still draws many visits from pilgrims. There are beliefs regarding several things such as if you crouch inside the tiny room beneath the dome, the faithful can gain relief from heart disorders. Also, mud applied to a joint pain or a skin ailment and then dabbed on the wall of this holy place will take away the pain. There were also things for children and I believe that’s why this woman was here with her daughter.

I was quite impressed with the tile in the fourth photo. It was installed in 1456 and has been exposed since 1948 and it still looks beautiful today.

There are some buildings and a large courtyard adjoining this shrine and the shrine still draws many pilgrims. The large courtyard is used to fortify the pilgrims with food and drinks. I’m not sure what organization does this but you can see a guy starting a fire to prepare food. The last photo only shows half the cooking pots in this open kitchen.