Gallery
Description
Property Name: The minaret of Sheikh Issa Mosque or the As Suwayqa or Al-Sawawin Mosque Mosque, Safed
Inventory No: 972-2-33
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2020-08-28
Country (State party): Palestine
Province: Safed
Town: As Sawawin
Geographic coordinates: 32°57’59.37″N
35°29’49.04″E
Historic Period: Ottoman
Year of Construction:
Style: Ottoman
Orginal Use: Mosque
Current Use: Ruins, only its minaret left
Architect: Unknown
Significance
Al-Sawawin Mosque: It is one of the ancient mosques of Safad. Perhaps it is what Chalabi referred to firstly by saying: “In the locality of al-Sawawin, Sheikh Issa mosque, and its owner is buried in his yard.” The mosque is also known as Al-Suwaiqa Mosque. The Zionists demolished this mosque, leaving only its minaret.
Selection Criteria
i. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design
ii. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
The “Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage” on 7/11/2010 AD completed comprehensive restoration works for the minaret of the Suwayqa Mosque in Safad – Sheikh Isa Mosque – in a way that preserves its historical archaeological architectural structure. This important restoration came after the minaret was vulnerable to collapse due to the erosion and demolition of many of its stones and their lack of maintenance for decades after the mosque was demolished by the occupiers.
References
Yusuf, Faraj Allah Ahmad. 2011. Mosques of Palestine: under the Zionist occupation. Dar Al-Qalam, 2011.
Web sources
The Palestinian Encyclopedia website: https://www.palestinapedia.net/