Great Mosque of Xi'an

Xi'an's Muslim community goes back to the Silk Road trade, and its principal mosque, founded in the Tang and largely rebuilt from the Ming onward, is built in Chinese architectural language throughout: four successive courtyards on an axis, timber halls with tiled roofs and upturned eaves, memorial archways, stone stelae and gardens, with the minaret taking the form of a three-storey pagoda. The orientation to Mecca is achieved by the plan running east to west rather than the usual north to south. Arabic calligraphy appears with Chinese inscriptions throughout. It remains an active mosque, with the prayer hall closed to non-Muslims.

History

Around 742 the Tang emperor Xuanzong decreed that a place of worship be built for the Muslim merchants and artisans of Chang'an, then the cosmopolitan capital. Little of the Tang building survived; around the 1260s the Yuan government rebuilt the decaying mosque as Huihui Wanshansi, and under the Ming Hongwu Emperor it took its present form, largely built in 1392, with the gate, paifang and other parts added under the Qing, whose plaque of 1768 joined a Ming plaque of 1606 recording the rebuilding (Wikipedia, Great Mosque of Xi'an).

The main sights

• The courtyard sequence - four linked courtyards on an east-west axis.
• The pagoda minaret - the Chinese-form tower used for the call to prayer.
• The stelae and archways - stone inscriptions in Arabic and Chinese.
• The gardens - planted courtyards between the halls.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the mosque is quieter outside prayer times, and Friday midday is busy with worshippers. The surrounding Muslim quarter is liveliest in the evening.

Things to know

The prayer hall interior is closed to non-Muslims. Entry is charged. Modest dress is expected. The approach lane is a dense souvenir market that many find intrusive.

Nearby

The Drum and Bell Towers lie east; the Muslim quarter food streets surround it.

Key facts