List of former mosques in Portugal

This is a list of former mosques in Portugal of former mosques in Portugal used during the Al-Andaluz period (Portuguese for Mosque is: Mesquita Arabic: Masjid).

Igreja Matriz de Mértola, the uniquely preserved old mosque in Portugal.

The term former mosque in this list indicates any mosque (building) or site used for Islamic Prayer (Salah) in Portugal during the Islamic occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.

Most of the former Portuguese mosques were built and used as Muslim places of worship during the Al-Andalus era when several Muslim Moorish kingdoms and empires ruled large parts of the Iberian Peninsula including most of modern Portugal. Many former mosques and Islamic religious buildings were either demolished altogether or converted into churches, after the Christian Reconquista of Iberia.[1] However, this list does not include the former mosques in Spain that were built during Al-andalus period.

Mosques were important buildings during Arab rule in Portugal. They formed an important part of Moorish architecture. Portuguese mosques and religious buildings had a square plan layout. Minaret towers were normally built in a corner of the mosque. They were used for announcing the Islamic prayer call known as Adhan, five times a day. The qibla or direction the faithful should face when performing Islamic prayers (Salah) was indicated by a small niche called mihrab on the main wall. The mihrab and minaret usually projected out from the main walls of the mosque.[2]

In some ancient mosques like the former Great mosque of Silves, water tanks or cisterns were built to store and supply water for Wudu, the washing ritual performed before prayers.[3] Horseshoe arches were a distinctive Iberian Moor architectural feature. They were commonly used to frame doorways, windows or just as decoration in Portuguese mosques. Four horseshoe doorways which opened into an inner courtyard or Sahn, remain in Mertola mosque.[4] Mihrabs, horseshoe arches and door frames were decorated with detailed patterns formed by intertwining lines, known as arabesques. They had patterns of geometric and floral motifs. Simple shapes, repeated in symmetrical arrays giving a beautiful artistic finish.[2] Due to the shorter exposure to Islam and substantially quicker Portuguese Reconquista re-establishing the Christian religion and cultural values in every aspect, the minority Islamic legacy assimilated into the mainstream Portuguese and dissolved over time. Unlike neighbouring Spain where a significant number of these original mosques and religious structures are still standing, scattered more or less all over the country.[2] There is no unmodified ancient mosque left in Portugal, the best preserved example being Mértola’s modified former mosque (turned into a church in the 12th century) and a few more structures in the South of the country.[5]