View source for Blue Mosque, Yerevan

{{Short description|18th century Persian mosque in Yerevan, Armenia}}
{{Other uses|Blue Mosque (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox religious building
|building_name         = Blue Mosque
|image                 = Yerevan Blue mosque 2023 aerial.jpg
| image_upright        = 1.3
|caption               = An aerial view of the mosque, in 2023
|coordinates           = {{coord|40.1781|44.5056|display=inline,title|format=dms}}
|location              = {{nowrap|12 [[Mashtots Avenue]],}} [[Yerevan]]
| country              = [[Armenia]]
|religious_affiliation = [[Shia Islam|Shia (Twelver)]]
|rite                  =
|consecration_year     =
|status                = {{ubl|[[Mosque]] {{small|(until mid-1920s)}}|{{nowrap|Secular use {{small|(mid-1920s&ndash;1996)}}}}|Mosque {{small|(since 1996)}}|{{nowrap|[[Cultural center]] {{small|(since 2015)}}}}}}
| functional_status    = Active
|leadership            =
|website               =
|architect             =
|architecture_type     = {{nowrap|[[Mosque architecture]]}}
|architecture_style    = [[Iranian architecture|Iranian]]
|facade_direction      = 
| founded_by           = [[Hoseyn Ali Khan]]
|year_completed        = {{ubl|{{AH|1179}}|1996 {{small|(restored)}}}}
|construction_cost     =
|capacity              =
|length                =
|width                 =
|width_nave            =
|height_max            =
|dome_quantity         = 3
|dome_height_outer     =
|dome_height_inner     =
|minaret_quantity      = 1
|minaret_height        = {{cvt|24|m}}
|materials             = 
| footnotes            = <ref name="arlis"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Noble|first1=John|last2=Kohn|first2=Michael|last3=Systermans|first3=Danielle|title=Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan|date=2008|publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|isbn=9781741044775|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=A6yYWC2QtZUC&dq=yerevan+blue+mosque&pg=PA154 154]}}</ref>{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=296}}{{sfn|Markossian|2002|p=44}}
}}
The '''Blue Mosque''' ({{langx|hy|Կապույտ մզկիթ}}; {{langx|fa|مسجد کبود}}) is an 18th-century Persian [[Twelver Shia|Twelver]] [[Shia Islam|Shia]] [[mosque]], located in [[Yerevan]], in modern-day [[Armenia]]. It was commissioned by [[Hoseyn Ali Khan]], the khan of the Iranian [[Erivan Khanate]]. It is one of the oldest extant structures in [[Kentron District|central Yerevan]] and the most significant structure from the city's [[Iranian Armenia (1502–1828)|Iranian period]]. It was the largest of the eight mosques of Yerevan in the 19th century and is the only active mosque in Armenia today.

The mosque was secularized in the 1920s and housed the [[Yerevan History Museum|History Museum of Yerevan]] for more than five decades. Following Armenia's independence, the mosque was renovated with support from the Iranian government and again started operating as a mosque, serving the [[Islam in Armenia|Muslims residing in Armenia]].

==Names==
Western visitors in the Russian period, such as [[H. F. B. Lynch]] and [[Luigi Villari]], referred to the mosque as Gök Jami (Gok Djami),{{sfn|Lynch|1901|p=213}}{{sfn|Villari|1906|p=224}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baedeker |first=Karl |author-link=Karl Baedeker |url=https://archive.org/details/russiawithtehera00karl/page/494/ |title=Russia With Teheran, Port Arthur, and Peking. Handbook For Travellers |publisher=Karl Baedeker, Publisher., T. Fisher Unwin, 1 Adelphi Terrace, W.C., Charles Scribner's Sons, 597 Fifth Ave. |year=1914 |location=Leipzig, London, New York |pages=494}}</ref>{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=296}}<ref name="Ritter"/> which translates from Turkish as '[[sky blue]] mosque'.<ref name="Kiesling"/> It is known as {{Transliteration|hy|Kapuyt mzkit’}} 'Blue Mosque' in Armenian, although {{Transliteration|hy|Gyoy mzkit’}} is sometimes used as well.<ref name="arlis"/> It is known in Persian as {{Transliteration|fa|Masjid-i Juma}} 'Friday mosque' or {{Transliteration|fa|Jami-i Shahr}} 'city congregational mosque'.<ref name="Ritter"/>{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=296}}

==History==
[[File:Eriwan Gök Jami (Foto Sarre MIK Pl 9088).jpg|thumb|The Blue Mosque in Yerevan, view from the courtyard towards the prayer hall (photo F. Sarre, 1897)]]
[[File:Գոյ մզկիթը (1917).jpg|thumb|The Blue Mosque by [[Panos Terlemezian]], 1917]]

===Early history===
The mosque was built in 1765–1766 ([[Islamic calendar|AH]] 1179){{efn|Alternatively given as 1767-1768 (AH 1181) by [[Markus Ritter]] "as evidenced by the inscriptions of the main ''[[mihrab]]''.<ref name="Ritter"/>}} by [[Hoseyn Ali Khan]], the ruler of the [[Erivan Khanate]] under the [[Afsharid dynasty]],{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=296}}<ref name="arlis"/> as the city's main [[Congregational mosque|Friday mosque]].<ref name="Kiesling"/> The mosque was the largest of the eight mosques operating in Yerevan when the Russians [[Capture of Erivan|captured the city in 1827]].<ref name="Kiesling" />{{sfn|Lynch|1901|p=213}}<ref name="Kiesling" /> The mosque underwent substantial redecoration with tiles around 1887-88 (AH 1305), under [[Erivan Governorate|Russian administration]].<ref name="Ritter"/> The mosque underwent another reconstruction in 1907–1910.<ref name="yerevanmasjed.ir"/>

H. F. B. Lynch, who visited Erivan in 1890s, wrote: "There is nothing very remarkable in the architecture of the mosque; but the floral paintings which adorn the ceiling of a companion and smaller edifice on the north side of the court are of very high merit."{{sfn|Lynch|1901|p=214}} Luigi Villari, an Italian diplomat and historian, gave a detailed description of the mosque in his 1906 book titled ''Fire and Sword in the Caucasus''. He wrote that the "great mosque called the Gok Djami [...] is a good deal more than a mosque; it is a long quadrangle containing several places of worship and a number of cells, schools, and offices of the Moslem religious administration. It is not very ancient [...] but it is handsome."{{sfn|Villari|1906|p=224}} The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' (1911) described the mosque as the "finest building in the city."<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Erivan_(town)|short=x}}</ref> The [[minaret]] of the mosque, standing at {{convert|24|m}} was the tallest structure in 19th-century Yerevan.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=297}}

===Soviet period===
The mosque was secularized after [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet rule]] was established in Armenia. The mosque's entrances and exits were modified significantly. The main gate, on the southern side, to the right of the minaret was blocked. The western gate was "incorporated into a residence complex and became hardly recognizable as an entrance." The entrance on the northern side became the only entrance. It is accessible and visible from [[Mashtots Avenue]].{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=297}} Beginning with [[Alexander Tamanian]]'s 1924 master plan for Yerevan, the mosque has been situated more than two meters below the street level, which requires visitors to descend a flight of steps.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=299}}

The mosque ceased to operate as a religious institution in the mid-1920s. Its courtyard became a "creative space for Armenian artists, writers, poets, and intelligentsia, facilitating the production of a new cultural and aesthetic order for socialist Armenia. The courtyard was protected by large elm and plane trees, and in this way provided the hot and dusty city with a shaded refuge."{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=297}} The courtyard housed a teahouse, which became a hub for intellectual gatherings. [[Yeghishe Charents]], [[Martiros Saryan]], [[Aksel Bakunts]] were among its regular visitors. Foreign guests included Armenian-American writer [[William Saroyan]], Russian poet [[Osip Mandelstam]], Russian novelist [[Andrei Bely]] and others. Local artists used the "courtyard for exhibitions and as a laboratory for new socialist spirituality."{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=298}} Seyed Hossein Tabatabai, Adviser of the Cultural Center of the Iranian Embassy in Armenia, noted that the mosque was "preserved by the efforts of a number of Armenian intellectuals," especially Charents.<ref name="1lurer2022"/>

In the 1930s, first the Anti-Religious Museum and subsequently the Museum of [[Antifascism]] were housed at the mosque. From 1936 until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the mosque housed the Museum of Natural Sciences, which included a [[planetarium]] inside the main prayer hall and the [[Yerevan History Museum]].{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=299}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Overview |url=https://yhm.am/?lang=en |website=yhm.am |publisher=[[Yerevan History Museum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907194644/https://yhm.am/?lang=en |archive-date=7 September 2019 |quote=In 1936 it was moved to the Blue Mosque (Gyoy Djami) where it functioned for about 56 years.}}</ref>

[[Image:Blue Mosque in Yerevan.jpg|thumb|The main entrance of the mosque from [[Mashtots Avenue]].]]

===Independence period===
In the late 1980s, during the [[Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]], the mosque did not sustain any damages because it was considered to be Persian, not Azerbaijani, and housed the city's history museum.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=299}}

In February 1991, a preliminary agreement was reached between the city's authorities and an Iranian delegation to restore the mosque.<ref name="FBIS"/> The mosque underwent major renovation between 1994 and 1998.<ref name="arlis"/> The city's authorities officially transferred the right to use the mosque to Iran on October 13, 1995.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=294}} The government of Iran allocated some 1 billion [[Iranian rial]]s (over $1 million) for restoration works.{{sfn|Markossian|2002|p=45}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=Visiting Iranian Minister Comments on Relations|journal=Daily Report: Central Eurasia|date=16 October 1995|pages=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pur1.32754080840915&view=1up&seq=94 87–88]|publisher=[[Foreign Broadcast Information Service]]|quote="Blue Mosque is the only large Iranian memorial which was preserved even under conditions of mass termination of churches in the 30s" Hakob Movsesi said. Iranian Government allocates some 1 billion Iranian rials for capital restoration of the mosque. Restored mosque will become the center of Iranian culture in Yerevan.}} [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pur1.32754080840915&view=1up&seq=94 online] ([https://archive.org/details/visitingiranianministercommentsonrelations archived])</ref> The mosque was re-opened as a religious institution in 1996.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=299}} [[Brady Kiesling]] described the restoration as "structurally necessary but aesthetically ambiguous."<ref name="Kiesling"/>

Another reconstruction was done between 2009 and 2011.<ref name="yerevanmasjed.ir"/>

[[File:Erevan - La Mosquée bleue 01.JPG|thumb|The courtyard and the dome.]]

====Today====
The Blue Mosque is the only active mosque in Armenia,<ref name="Aghajanian"/><ref name="Brooke"/> which has a small Muslim population (between 812<ref>{{cite web |title=Կրոնական կազմը Հայաստանում [Armenia's religious makeup] |url=https://ampop.am/followers-of-different-religions-in-armenia/ |website=ampop.am |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907105433/https://ampop.am/followers-of-different-religions-in-armenia/ |archive-date=7 September 2019 |language=hy |date=27 December 2017 |quote=Հայաստանում բնակվում է 812 մուսուլման...}}</ref> and 1,000 or 0.03% of the total population).<ref>{{Citation|editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Tracy |date=October 2009 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |page=28|title=Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population |url=http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf |access-date=2009-10-08 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010050756/http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf |archive-date=2009-10-10 }}</ref>

Since restoration, it has become a religious and cultural center for the Iranians residing in Armenia and Iranian tourists visiting Armenia.<ref name="Aghajanian"/> In 2003 the journalist [[Thomas de Waal]] noted that the only regular worshippers at the mosque were "the dozen or so diplomats from the Iranian Embassy."{{sfn|de Waal|2003|p=74}} Less than a decade later, in 2009, ''[[ArmeniaNow]]'' wrote that of the up to 2,000 Iranians residing in Yerevan as many as 500 periodically attend the mosque on Thursdays.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ionesyan|first1=Karine|title=Mourning rite at Blue Mosque: Iranians in Yerevan pay tribute to their compatriots|url=https://www.armenianow.com/news/10262/mourning_rite_at_blue_mosque_irani|work=[[ArmeniaNow]]|date=17 July 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801163332/https://www.armenianow.com/news/10262/mourning_rite_at_blue_mosque_irani|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=8 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Iranian cultural center inside the mosque complex attracts young Armenians seeking to learn [[Persian language|Persian]].{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=303}} The Persian library of over 8,000 items, named after the poet [[Hafez]], was opened inside the complex in October 2014.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=302}}
On December 10, 2015, the government of Armenia leased the mosque complex to the embassy of Iran to Armenia for 99 years to use it as a cultural center.<ref>{{cite news |title=Իրանի դեսպանատունը 99 տարով անհատույց կօգտագործի Կապույտ մզկիթն ու հարակից հողամասը |url=https://hetq.am/hy/article/64411 |work=[[Hetq]] |date=10 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908060535/https://hetq.am/hy/article/64411 |archive-date=8 September 2019 |language=hy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ՀՀ Կառավարության որոշում որպես նվիրատվություն հողամաս ընդունելու և "Կապույտ" մզկիթ» հուշարձանն անհատույց օգտագործման իրավունքով հանձնելու մասին որոշում |url=https://www.e-gov.am/gov-decrees/item/26700/ |website=e-gov.am |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908060637/https://www.e-gov.am/gov-decrees/item/26700/ |archive-date=8 September 2019 |language=hy}}</ref>

[[File:Yerevan Blue mosque 2023 dome.jpg|thumb|Closer view of the dome]]
[[File:Yerevan Blue mosque 2023 dome and minaret.jpg|thumb|The dome and the minaret]]
[[File:2014 Erywań, Błękitny Meczet (10).jpg|thumb|upright|The minaret]]

==Architecture==
The mosque is listed by the Armenian government as a monument of national significance.<ref name="arlis"/> It is "one of the oldest buildings in central Yerevan"{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=296}} and the "only extant building of the Iranian period in Yerevan."<ref name="Ritter"/> The historian of Islamic art [[Markus Ritter]] described it as the "main model for the early Qajar mosque architecture of the Iranian period."{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=297}} The mosque complex covers an area of {{convert|7000|m2}}.{{sfn|Markossian|2002|p=44}} The mosque itself is {{convert|97x66|m|ft}},<ref name="yerevanmasjed.ir"/> while the courtyard is {{convert|70x47|m|ft}}.<ref name="Ritter"/> The mosque contains the traditional [[Shia]] attributes, including a minaret, three [[mihrab]]s (prayer halls), holy inscriptions, etc.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=300}} The mosque includes 24 arched cells that face the pool in the middle of the courtyard, which is surrounded by a rose garden.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=296}} The minaret, standing at {{convert|24|m}} tall,{{sfn|Markossian|2002|p=44}}{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=296}} has a 7-degree slope, but is considered to be architecturally safe.<ref name="yerevanmasjed.ir"/>

==Efforts to list as a World Heritage Site==
[[File:ArmenianStamps-393.jpg|thumb|A 2007 Armenian stamp depicting the mosque.]]
{{see also|List of World Heritage Sites in Armenia}}

In October 2007 Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister [[Vartan Oskanian]] stated during his speech at the 34th session of the [[UNESCO]] General Conference in Paris that the Blue Mosque and other sites are on the waiting list for inclusion in the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site|World Heritage List]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Vartan Oskanian's Speech to UNESCO General Conference|url=http://asbarez.com/56025/vartan-oskanians-speech-to-unesco-general-conference/|work=[[Asbarez]]|agency=via [[Armradio]]|date=19 October 2007|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801164335/http://asbarez.com/56025/vartan-oskanians-speech-to-unesco-general-conference/|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=8 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2013 Armenian Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan stated that Armenia will take all possible steps for inclusion of the mosque in the list.<ref name="armenpress 2013">{{cite news|title=Involvement of Blue Mosque in UNESCO list of cultural heritage is highly significant|url=https://armenpress.am/eng/news/704871/involvement-of-blue-mosque-in-unesco-list-of-cultural-heritage-is-highly-significant.html|agency=[[Armenpress]]|date=14 January 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801163720/https://armenpress.am/eng/news/704871/involvement-of-blue-mosque-in-unesco-list-of-cultural-heritage-is-highly-significant.html|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=8 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Armenia applies to place Blue Mosque on UNESCO's World Heritage List|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/world_armenia-applies-to-place-blue-mosque-on-unescos-world-heritage-list_304799.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151221033541/http://www.todayszaman.com/world_armenia-applies-to-place-blue-mosque-on-unescos-world-heritage-list_304799.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 December 2015|work=[[Today's Zaman]]|date=22 January 2013}}</ref> She reaffirmed this position in a meeting with Iranian Culture Minister [[Mohammad Hosseini (politician)|Mohammad Hosseini]] in April 2013. Hosseini stated that he hoped Armenian efforts would succeed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Armenia will apply to include Yerevan's Blue Mosque in UNESCO World Heritage Site|url=https://news.am/eng/news/149639.html|work=news.am|date=19 April 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801163716/https://news.am/eng/news/149639.html|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=8 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Armenia's Foreign Affairs Minister [[Eduard Nalbandyan]], in his speech at the 38th session of UNESCO General Conference in November 2015:<ref>{{cite web|title=Statement by Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, at the 38th session of UNESCO General Conference|url=https://www.mfa.am/en/speeches/2015/11/06/min-unesco-speech/5681|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia|date=6 November 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801163745/https://www.mfa.am/en/speeches/2015/11/06/min-unesco-speech/5681|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=1 August 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{quote frame|...neighboring Iran has made great efforts to preserve and protect the Armenian cultural heritage. The [[Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran]], the oldest of which dates back to the 7th century, were inscribed on the World Heritage List by the Iranian Government. On our part, Armenia reconstructed the Iranian 18th century Blue Mosque in Yerevan, and is going to inscribe it on the World Heritage List.}}
On October 15, 2015, Armenian Prime Minister [[Hovik Abrahamyan]] and First Vice President of Iran [[Eshaq Jahangiri]] attended an event dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the mosque.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ghazanchyan|first1=Siranush|title=Iran's First Vice-President visits Blue Mosque in Yerevan|url=http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/10/15/irans-first-vice-preside-visits-blue-mosque-in-yerevan/|agency=[[Public Radio of Armenia]]|date=15 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219162032/http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/10/15/irans-first-vice-preside-visits-blue-mosque-in-yerevan/|archive-date=19 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Iran's high-ranking delegation attends 250th anniversary celebration of Yerevan Blue Mosque foundation|url=https://armenpress.am/eng/news/822272/irans-high-ranking-delegation-attends-250th-anniversary-celebration-of-yerevan-blue-mosque-foundation.html|agency=[[Armenpress]]|date=15 October 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801163639/https://armenpress.am/eng/news/822272/irans-high-ranking-delegation-attends-250th-anniversary-celebration-of-yerevan-blue-mosque-foundation.html|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=8 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Abrahamyan stated in his speech that both Armenia and Iran "are now making efforts to have it put on the UNESCO World Heritage list."<ref>{{cite news|title=PM Attends Blue Mosque Foundation 250th Anniversary Celebration in Yerevan|url=http://www.gov.am/en/news/item/8143/|agency=Government of the Republic of Armenia|date=15 October 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801163638/https://www.gov.am/en/news/item/8143/|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=8 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Controversy==
[[File:Մզկիթ «Կապույտ» (Գյոյ մզկիթ), ArmAg.jpg|thumb|An aerial view]]
Multiple Western and Armenian sources describe the mosque as Iranian/Persian.{{efn|For instance, [[Armenpress]], the state news agency, calls it the "Iranian Blue Mosque of Yerevan" in a 2013 article.<ref name="armenpress 2013"/>}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=Mabel Evelyn |title=Beginning Again at Ararat |date=1924 |publisher=[[Fleming H. Revell Company]] |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/beginningagainat001962mbp/page/n333/mode/2up?view=theater&q=blue+mosque 316] |quote=...the Persian Blue Mosque...}}</ref><ref name="Brooke" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kaeter|first1=Margaret|title=The Caucasian Republics|date=2004|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing|Facts on File]]|isbn=9780816052684|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DHCVPqlsmvgC&dq=yerevan+blue+mosque&pg=PA12 12]|quote=The Blue Mosque [...] is the only Persian mosque in Yerevan still preserved.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Carpenter|first1=C.|title=World and Its Peoples, Volume 1|chapter=Yerevan|date=2006|publisher=[[Marshall Cavendish]]|isbn=9780761475712|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=j894miuOqc4C&dq=Blue+Mosque+%5B...%5D+is+the+only+Persian+mosque&pg=PA775 775]|quote=...only one large Persian mosque, the eighteenth-century Blue Mosque, is still open, now renovated as a cultural center.}}</ref><ref name="Ritter"/> The anthropologist and ethnographer [[Tsypylma Darieva]] notes that "in local media and in official discourses, the Blue Mosque has been strongly associated with the new expatriate political body symbolizing the recent Armenian–Iranian friendship. This dominant reading of the place defines the Blue Mosque exclusively as the 'Persian Mosque'."{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=299}} Darieva notes that it served as a [[Friday mosque]] for the Muslim population in Yerevan until the mid-1920s.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=297}}

In Azerbaijan, the mosque is usually referred to as a monument of Azerbaijani heritage of Yerevan.<ref>{{cite news|title=Blue Mosque, historical Azerbaijani monument in Yerevan - PHOTOS|url=http://www.today.az/news/society/79534.html|work=today.az|date=17 January 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801164331/http://www.today.az/news/society/79534.html|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=8 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Zeynalov|first1=Natiq|title=Yerevanda Göy məscid hər gün İran vətəndaşları ilə dolu olur|url=http://www.azadliq.org/content/article/2032531.html|work=azadliq.org|agency=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|date=5 May 2010|language=az|quote=Halbuki, onun fikrincə, bu, Azərbaycan mədəniyyətinin bir abidəsidir.|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200801163625/https://www.azadliq.org/a/2032531.html|archive-date=1 August 2020|access-date=24 November 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> One government official called it "the largest religious center of Azerbaijanis living in Yerevan."<ref>Sayyad Salahli, First Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijani [[State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations (Azerbaijan)|State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations]]. {{cite news|last1=Dadaşov|first1=Valeh|title=State Committee official: 'Lease of Blue Mosque to Iran has preconceived purpose'|url=https://report.az/en/religion/first-deputy-chairman-of-state-committee-lease-of-blue-mosque-to-iran-has-preconceived-purpose/|work=report.az|date=15 December 2015}}</ref> A 2007 book titled ''War against Azerbaijan: Targeting Cultural Heritage'', published by the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Azerbaijan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan]] and the [[Heydar Aliyev Foundation]], objected to the restoration of the mosque in the 1990s and to its "presentation as a Persian mosque."<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Imranly|editor1-first=Kamala|title=War against Azerbaijan: Targeting Cultural Heritage|date=2007|publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Azerbaijan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan]] and [[Heydar Aliyev Foundation]]|location=Baku|isbn=978-9952-8091-4-5|url=https://www.history.az/pdf.php?item_id=20100816124447313&ext=pdf|page=313|quote=The Goy mosque was turned into the Museum of History of Yerevan in the Soviet period, and then 'restored' and presented as a Persian mosque after 1991.}}</ref> The independent Armenian scholar [[Rouben Galichian]] argues in his 2009 book ''Invention of History'':<ref>{{cite book|last=Galichian|first=Rouben|author-link=Rouben Galichian|title=The Invention of History: Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Showcasing of Imagination|url=http://roubengalichian.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/8-InventionOfHistory_Eng_book.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217143857/http://roubengalichian.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/8-InventionOfHistory_Eng_book.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-02-17|date=2010|orig-year=2009|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Gomidas Institute]]|location=London|isbn=978-1-903656-88-4|page=66}}</ref>
{{Quote frame|It must be said that all mosques built [in Yerevan] between the 1635 and 1820s were erected by the Iranians and bearing in mind that the local Muslim population, as well as the Persians were both Shias, their mosques were identical. Hence, it is very difficult to understand how the Blue Mosque could be an “Azeri” mosque, since such a classification did not exist.|align=center}}

At a 2022 forum, Armenian prime minister [[Nikol Pashinyan]] stated: "We have great respect for Islamic civilization and religion, and one of the clearest proofs of this is the Blue Mosque in the center of Yerevan, which, by the way, was restored during the period of Armenia’s independence."<ref>{{cite web |title=Even today, the threat of genocide in our region is considered as a phenomenon needing urgent prevention. Nikol Pashinyan |url=https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/item/2022/12/12/Nikol-Pashinyan-Global-Forum/ |website=primeminister.am |publisher=The Office to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212134028/https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/item/2022/12/12/Nikol-Pashinyan-Global-Forum/ |archive-date=12 December 2022 |date=12 December 2022}}</ref> At the [[59th Munich Security Conference|2023]] [[Munich Security Conference]], Pashinyan, in response to [[Ilham Aliyev]]'s accusation that Armenia destroyed mosques in Nagorno-Karabakh, stated that Armenia has a "Muslim minority in our country, and we have a functioning mosque."<ref>{{cite web |title=Nikol Pashinyan participated in the discussion on regional security with the Prime Minister of Georgia, the President of Azerbaijan and the Secretary General of the OSCE |url=https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/item/2023/02/18/Nikol-Pashinyan-Panel-discussion/ |website=primeminister.am |publisher=The Office to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220111720/https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/item/2023/02/18/Nikol-Pashinyan-Panel-discussion/ |archive-date=20 February 2023 |date=18 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ilham Aliyev attended plenary session on "Moving Mountains? Building Security in the South Caucasus" in Munich |url=https://president.az/en/articles/view/58996 |website=president.az |publisher=Official web-site of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220071759/https://president.az/en/articles/view/58996 |archive-date=20 February 2023 |date=18 February 2023}}</ref>

===Visit of Azerbaijani MPs===
In February 2022 two Azerbaijani pro-government<ref name="azatutyun2022"/> MPs, Tahir Mirkişili and Soltan Məmmədov, attending a [[Euronest Parliamentary Assembly]] meeting in Yerevan, visited the mosque.<ref>{{cite web |title=Azərbaycan Milli Məclisinin deputatları Tahir Mirkişili və Soltan Məmmədov Yerevanda Göy məscidi ziyarət ediblər [Deputies of the Azerbaijani National Assembly Tahir Mirkishili and Soltan Mammadov visited the Goy Mosque in Yerevan] |url=https://www.facebook.com/MeydanTelevision/posts/4938366899543663 |publisher=[[Meydan TV]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220223122520/https://www.facebook.com/MeydanTelevision/posts/4938366899543663 |archive-date=23 February 2022 |language=az |date=23 February 2022 |access-date=23 February 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mirkişili wrote that "Although there are inscriptions related to another state on its walls, its architecture, walls, and spirit as a whole are affiliated with Azerbaijan. We believe that its true owners will soon be able to offer their prayers in the mosque."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mirkishili |first1=Tahir |author1-link=:az:Tahir Mirkişili |title=Göy məsciddə olduq |url=https://www.facebook.com/tahirmirkishili/posts/460815772224223 |website=Facebook |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220223123149/https://www.facebook.com/tahirmirkishili/posts/460815772224223 |archive-date=23 February 2022 |language=az |date=23 February 2022 |access-date=23 February 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="eurasianet2022">{{cite news |last1=Mejlumyan |first1=Ani |title=Azerbaijani MPs' tour of Yerevan sparks scandal |url=https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijani-mps-tour-of-yerevan-sparks-scandal |agency=[[Eurasianet]] |date=February 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225191149/https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijani-mps-tour-of-yerevan-sparks-scandal |archive-date=25 February 2022}}</ref> The Iranian embassy in Armenia responded by calling the mosque a "symbol of Iranian art" and noting that "centuries-old Persian epigraphy has been preserved" on its walls.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Blue Mosque, a symbol of Iranian art |url=https://twitter.com/iraninyerevan/status/1496516897931776003 |website=IRI Embassy, Armenia on Twitter |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220224060213/https://twitter.com/iraninyerevan/status/1496516897931776003 |archive-date=24 February 2022 |date=23 February 2022 |access-date=24 February 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="azatutyun2022"/> Mahmoud Movahedifar, an Iranian clergyman serving at the mosque, stated that it has distinctive features of Iran's traditional Islamic architecture and that all inscriptions are in Persian. Movahedifar added, "Even if there was a single tile here with an Azerbaijani inscription we would recognize that fact."<ref name="azatutyun2022">{{cite news |last1=Khachatrian |first1=Marine |title=Iran Irked By Azeri Claims To Yerevan Mosque |url=https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31721472.html |work=azatutyun.am |agency=[[RFE/RL]] |date=February 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226215902/https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31721472.html |archive-date=26 February 2022}}</ref><ref name="1lurer2022"/>

==Artistic depictions==
The mosque has been depicting in paintings by [[Grigory Gagarin]] (d. 1893),<ref>{{cite web |title=Երևան (Գեյ մզկիթի հրապարակը) |url=https://treasury.am/hy/երևան-գեյ-մզկիթի-հրապարակը?query=մզկիթ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250330133539/https://treasury.am/hy/%D5%A5%D6%80%D6%87%D5%A1%D5%B6-%D5%A3%D5%A5%D5%B5-%D5%B4%D5%A6%D5%AF%D5%AB%D5%A9%D5%AB-%D5%B0%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%BA%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A8?query=%D5%B4%D5%A6%D5%AF%D5%AB%D5%A9 |archive-date=30 March 2025 |language=hy}}</ref> [[Panos Terlemezian]] ([[:File:Գոյ մզկիթը (1917).jpg|1917]]),<ref>{{cite web |title=Գոյ մզկիթը (1917) |url=http://www.gallery.am/hy/database/item/2970/ |website=gallery.am |publisher=[[National Gallery of Armenia]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718202059/http://www.gallery.am/hy/database/item/2970/ |archive-date=18 July 2024 |language=hy}}</ref> [[:hy:Սարգիս Հովհաննիսյան (նկարիչ)|Sargis Hovhannisian]] (1921),<ref>{{cite web |title=«Գեոյ մզկիթ» |url=https://treasury.am/hy/գեոյ-մզկիթ-6?query=մզկիթ |website=treasury.am |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250330133605/https://treasury.am/hy/%D5%A3%D5%A5%D5%B8%D5%B5-%D5%B4%D5%A6%D5%AF%D5%AB%D5%A9-6?query=%D5%B4%D5%A6%D5%AF%D5%AB%D5%A9 |archive-date=30 March 2025 |language=hy}}</ref> [[Aleksei Ilyich Kravchenko]] (1934).<ref>{{cite web |title=Գոյ մզկիթը. Երևան |url=https://treasury.am/hy/գոյ-մզկիթը-երևան?query=մզկիթ |website=treasury.am |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250330133553/https://treasury.am/hy/%D5%A3%D5%B8%D5%B5-%D5%B4%D5%A6%D5%AF%D5%AB%D5%A9%D5%A8-%D5%A5%D6%80%D6%87%D5%A1%D5%B6?query=%D5%B4%D5%A6%D5%AF%D5%AB%D5%A9 |archive-date=30 March 2025 |language=hy}}</ref>

==See also==
{{stack|{{portal|Shia Islam|Middle East}}}}
* [[Islam in Armenia]]
* [[List of mosques in Armenia]]
* [[Iranian Armenia (1502-1828)|Iranian Armenia]]

==References==
;Notes
{{notelist}}
{{clear right}}
;Citations
{{reflist|3|refs=

<ref name="Kiesling">{{cite book|last=Kiesling|first=Brady|author-link=Brady Kiesling|title=Rediscovering Armenia: An Archaeological/Touristic Gazetteer and Map Set for the Historical Monuments of Armenia|date=2000|location=Yerevan/Washington DC|url=http://www.usa.am/armenia.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503171634/http://www.usa.am/armenia.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-05-03|publisher=[[Embassy of the United States, Yerevan|Embassy of the United States of America to Armenia]]|page=9}}</ref>

<ref name="Ritter">{{cite journal|last=Ritter|first=Markus|author-link=Markus Ritter|title=The Lost Mosque(s) in the Citadel of Qajar Yerevan: Architecture and Identity, Iranian and Local Traditions in the Early 19th Century|journal=[[Iran and the Caucasus]]|date=2009|volume=13|issue=2|pages=252–253|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|doi=10.1163/157338410X12625876281109|jstor=25703805|url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/47801/1/Ritter_2010b_Yerevan.pdf}}</ref>

<ref name="FBIS">{{cite journal|title=Armenian Premier Receives Iranian Delegation|journal=Daily Report: Soviet Union|date=22 February 1991|issue=35–39|pages=103–104|publisher=[[Foreign Broadcast Information Service]]|quote=The guests had a businesslike meeting at Yerevan city soviet executive committee where an agreement was drafted to repair the capital's 17th century Persian architectural edifice, the Blue Mosque. In keeping with the agreement, Iran will send renovation specialists to Yerevan and will provide the necessary amount of construction material. Plans are to complete the renovation work before 1995.}}</ref>

<ref name="arlis">{{cite web|author1=Government of the Republic of Armenia|title=Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Երևան քաղաքի պատմության և մշակույթի անշարժ հուշարձանների պետակական ցուցակ [List of historical and cultural monuments of Yerevan]|url=http://www.arlis.am/DocumentView.aspx?DocID=56884|website=arlis.am|publisher=Armneian Legal Information System|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805184927/http://www.arlis.am/DocumentView.aspx?DocID=56884|archive-date=5 August 2016|language=hy|date=2 November 2004}}</ref>

<ref name="Brooke">{{cite news|last1=Brooke|first1=James|title=Iran, Armenia Find Solidarity in Isolation|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-armenia-find-solidarity-in-isolation/1619833.html|agency=[[Voice of America]]|date=12 March 2013|quote=In all of Christian Armenia, there is only one mosque: "The Iranian Mosque," restored 15 years ago by Iran.}}</ref>

<ref name="Aghajanian">{{cite news|last=Aghajanian|first=Liana|title=An insider's guide to Yerevan: the city where Kanye likes to swim in Swan Lake|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/16/insiders-guide-yerevan-kanye-armenia|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=16 May 2016|quote=As the only active mosque left in Armenia, it now serves as a hub for a growing number of Iranian residents and tourists.}}</ref>

<ref name="yerevanmasjed.ir">{{cite web|title=Yerevan Great Blue Mosque|url=http://www.yerevanmasjed.ir/index.php/2013-11-18-00-39-17|website=yerevanmasjed.ir|publisher=Cultural Council of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran-Armenia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225162002/http://www.yerevanmasjed.ir/index.php/2013-11-18-00-39-17|archive-date=25 February 2017|date=18 November 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="1lurer2022">{{cite news |first=Irina |last=Mkrtchyan |title=Իրանի մշակույթի կենտրոնի խորհրդականը ադրբեջանցի պատգամավորների վարքը սանձարձակ է համարում [The adviser of the Iranian Cultural Center considers the behavior of the Azerbaijani deputies to be unrestrained] |url=https://www.1lurer.am/hy/2022/02/26/%D4%BB%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%AB-%D5%B4%D5%B7%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B5%D5%A9%D5%AB-%D5%AF%D5%A5%D5%B6%D5%BF%D6%80%D5%B8%D5%B6%D5%AB-%D5%AD%D5%B8%D6%80%D5%B0%D6%80%D5%A4%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%A8-%D5%A1%D5%A4%D6%80%D5%A2%D5%A5%D5%BB%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%81%D5%AB-%D5%BA%D5%A1%D5%BF%D5%A3%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%B8%D6%80%D5%B6%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%AB-%D5%BE%D5%A1%D6%80%D6%84%D5%A8-%D5%BD%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%B1%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%B1%D5%A1%D5%AF-%D5%A7-%D5%B0%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B4/670403 |work=1lurer.am |agency=[[Public TV of Armenia]] |date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227073153/https://www.1lurer.am/hy/2022/02/26/%D4%BB%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%AB-%D5%B4%D5%B7%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B5%D5%A9%D5%AB-%D5%AF%D5%A5%D5%B6%D5%BF%D6%80%D5%B8%D5%B6%D5%AB-%D5%AD%D5%B8%D6%80%D5%B0%D6%80%D5%A4%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%A8-%D5%A1%D5%A4%D6%80%D5%A2%D5%A5%D5%BB%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%81%D5%AB-%D5%BA%D5%A1%D5%BF%D5%A3%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%B8%D6%80%D5%B6%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%AB-%D5%BE%D5%A1%D6%80%D6%84%D5%A8-%D5%BD%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%B1%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%B1%D5%A1%D5%AF-%D5%A7-%D5%B0%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B4/670403 |archive-date=27 February 2022}}</ref>

}}

==Bibliography==
{{Commons category|Blue Mosque, Yerevan}}
* {{cite book|last=de Waal|first=Thomas|title=Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War|year=2003|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8147-1945-9|author-link=Thomas de Waal|title-link=Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War}}
* {{cite journal|last=Darieva|first=Tsypylma|author-link=Tsypylma Darieva|title=Prayer house or cultural centre? Restoring a mosque in post-socialist Armenia|journal=[[Central Asian Survey]]|date=2016|volume=35|issue=2|pages=292–308|doi=10.1080/02634937.2016.1140374|publisher=[[Routledge]]|s2cid=147672093}}
* {{cite book|last1=Villari|first1=Luigi|author-link1=Luigi Villari|title=Fire and Sword in the Caucasus|chapter=The Land of Ararat|date=1906|publisher=[[T. Fisher Unwin]]|location=London|chapter-url=http://www.armenianhouse.org/villari/caucasus/land-of-ararat.html}}
* {{cite book|last=Lynch|first=H. F. B.|author-link=H. F. B. Lynch|title=Armenia, travels and studies. Volume I: The Russian Provinces|date=1901|publisher=[[Longman|Longmans, Green, and Co.]]|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/armeniatravelsst01lync|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/armeniatravelsst01lync#page/212/mode/2up 213-215]}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Markossian|first1=Nara|title=Islam in Armenia: Restored Blue Mosque Serves Yerevan's Growing Iranian Community|journal=Armenian International Magazine|location=Glendale, California|issn=1050-3471|date=April 2002|volume=13|issue=3|pages=[http://image.issuu.com/131118043422-8128e7b9b96e6056496b22c18e8967ae/jpg/page_44.jpg 44]-[http://image.issuu.com/131118043422-8128e7b9b96e6056496b22c18e8967ae/jpg/page_45.jpg 45]|url=https://issuu.com/armenianinternationalmagazine/docs/april2002/22}}

{{Mosques in Armenia}}
{{Yerevan landmarks}}

[[Category:1760s establishments in Iran]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Yerevan]]
[[Category:Armenia–Iran relations]]
[[Category:Closed mosques in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Mosque buildings with domes in Asia]]
[[Category:Mosque buildings with minarets in Asia]]
[[Category:Mosques completed in the 1760s]]
[[Category:Persian-Caucasian architecture]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1766]]
[[Category:Shia mosques in Armenia]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Yerevan]]
[[Category:Twelver Shia mosques]]
[[Category:18th-century mosques in Asia]]