Jazzar Pasha Mosque - Acre
Introduction
Jazzar Pasha Mosque is located on al-Jezzar Street inside the walls of the old city of Acre. It was also known as Masjid al-Anwar (mosque of the lights). In the past, it used to be called white mosque because it had silver dome but it is painted green now. This mosque was built by the Ottoman governor of Bosnian origin Ahmed Pasha and al-Jazzar was his nickname. The mosque represents on Ottoman architecture style and uniquely it has only one minaret.
History
The construction of this mosque started in 1981 and it was completed within a year. A small corridor in front of the entrance door to the prayer hall. Some of the marble and granite columns in the mosque and courtyard were taken from the ruins of Caesarea. Mosque’s walls are adorned with calligraphy, this beautiful mosque is seen from almost everywhere once inside Acre.
Grave of Jazzar Pasha
At the back of the mosque, a room contains the graves of Jazzar Pasha and his successor and adopted son Suleiman Pasha. Ahmed Pasha was the governor of Acre from 1775 till his death in 1804. He was nicknamed al-Jazzar (the butcher). Pasha was a Christian slave but he found his way through the ranks and became governor and famously defeated Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799.
It was Jazzar Pasha who defended the city from the French attacks and Napoleon Bonaparte had to leave after losing many soldiers. Napoleon left Acre for Egypt and then to Europe thus ended his dream of conquering the East. A modest looking grave of this unsung hero is hardly known but he changed the course of history.
