PNT-00480 > Hugh Montgomerie Sinclair (1855-1927), Mosque of Umm Haram, watercolour, 17x26 cm, 1878.
The tekke lies on the shore of the Salt Lake of Larnaca over and near the ruins of a middle to late Bronze Age city. Excavations have brought houses of the Archaic, Classical I, and Ottoman periods to light.
The tekke is dedicated to Hala Sultan also known as Ummu Haram who is claimed to have been the sister of the Prophet’s foster mother Ummu Sulaym. It is believed she came to Cyprus with her second husband, Ubada ibn al-Samit during the spring of 674, fell from her mule, broke her neck and died on the spot.
There are many historical references as to the date the tomb was constructed, which point to the middle of the 7th Century, when the Arab raids began in Cyprus. The tomb itself is a trilithon, almost certainly an ancient cromlech, likely dating back to the early period of Cypriot history.
In 1683, the traveller Cornelius van Bruyn described the türbe: ‘Near the Salines, is a mosque that the Turks state to be the grave of Mina, Mother of their Prophet Mohamet. The sepulchre is enclosed by three huge stones, two of them upright, and the third resting on them above. The first two are thirteen palms broad, and at least as high again. But the stone is covered with lime, and can no longer be seen’.
According to legend, a dervish discovered the tomb of Hala Sultan in 1760 and built a türbe over it as attested by the date on the doorway to its entrance. The türbe of Hala Sultan stands behind the southeast wall of the mosque. It is also believed that at the same place a chapel had existed dedicated to Saint Marina by the Greeks. The sadirvan (fountain) in front of the mosque bears the date 1796-97.
The mosque itself, of yellowish-grey ashlar, was built on a square plan and covered by a dome with two minarets around 1813. The portico is made of wood and roofed with tiles. There are five separate graves nearby the easterly row of arches, the most important of which is that of the granddaughter of the Ottoman Grand Vizier Mustafa Reshid Pasha who later became Queen of Jordan and died in Cyprus in 1929.
Outside the main entrance gate of the mosque lies a white marble slab with an inscription referring to Baltassare Trivizani, Lieutenant-Governor of Cyprus 1489-1491.
The mosque is visible from the sea and all Turkish vessels used to dip their flags in homage as they passed by. Even today, the Hala Sultan Tekke remains the most revered place for Turkish-Cypriots.
© Costas and Rita Severis Foundation
