title: Emir Assaf Mosque
text: # Emir Assaf Mosque
  
  The Emir Assaf Mosque (Arabic: جامع الأمير منصور عساف) is a mosque located in downtown Beirut, Lebanon.
  
  ## History
  
  This mosque was inaugurated by Emir Mansur Assaf in 1597, on the former Serail Square that hosted Emir Fakhreddine’s palace and celebrated gardens. The Old Serail and the bath complex were replaced by Souk Sursock in the 1880s, while the Bab al-Saraya gate was removed in 1915 to make way for the new Foch-Allenby commercial district. In 1934, the mosque’s ablution rooms were built on the west side, in alignment with the street leading to Etoile Square. Post-war restoration of the mid-1990s lead to the renovation of the original western façade of the mosque.
  
  ## Architecture
  
  The square shape of the mosque, its five-cupola roof, the ablaq decoration of the entrance and the fine muqarnas detailing of the windows are characteristic of Lebanese style. Gray granite Roman columns support the central dome in the mosque's prayer hall. There was a bath complex located opposite the mosque, and the city gate known as Bab al-Saraya.
  
  