Tbilisi Juma Mosque: Where Sunni and Shia Pray Together

The Juma Mosque sits in the Abanotubani district of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia (the country in the South Caucasus), its octagonal minaret rising above the sulfur-bath domes and the Old Town rooftops — in a skyline that also holds Orthodox church cupolas, the ruins of Narikala Fortress, and, in the distance, the golden dome of Sameba. The mosque has been part of this neighborhood for centuries, and its presence within a few hundred meters of Georgian Orthodox churches, an Armenian church, and a synagogue makes Abanotubani one of the most compact demonstrations anywhere in the South Caucasus of the multi-religious urban life Tbilisi has sustained — imperfectly but continuously — across its long history.

What is the Tbilisi Juma Mosque?

The Juma Mosque is the only surviving mosque in Tbilisi, in the Old Town's Abanotubani district at the foot of Narikala. It's known for something rare: Sunni and Shia Muslims pray together in the same space, without separation — one of the very few mosques in the world where the two branches of Islam share a single house of worship. That came about after Tbilisi's other mosque, the Shia "Blue Mosque," was demolished in the Soviet era; a curtain divided the two communities inside the Juma Mosque until 1996, when it was removed. The red-brick building, blending neo-Gothic and Islamic elements, dates in its current form to 1895. It's an active mosque, open to respectful visitors outside prayer times, and free.

A shared mosque

The mosque serves Tbilisi's Muslim community — primarily Azerbaijanis, alongside Georgia's broader Muslim population, and both Sunni and Shia. What makes it remarkable, and what is often cited as one of the more striking facts of religious life in Georgia, is that Sunni and Shia pray together in the same space. In most of the Islamic world the two maintain separate mosques; here they share one.

The reason is a particular piece of Tbilisi's history. The city once had more than one mosque — Sunnis worshipped at the Juma Mosque, Shia at the Blue Mosque nearby. Around 1950–51, the Soviet authorities demolished the Blue Mosque (during work on the Metekhi Bridge), leaving the Shia community with nowhere to pray — so the Juma Mosque took them in. For decades a black curtain divided the prayer hall between the two; in 1996 the curtain was removed, and since then the two branches have prayed side by side. The arrangement reflects both the pragmatic accommodation of a small community in a predominantly Christian country and a genuine coexistence that has few parallels. (The mosque is administered under the Mufti of Azerbaijan.)

History and the building

A mosque has stood at the foot of Narikala since the early 18th century: the Ottomans, who then held Tbilisi, built a Sunni mosque here around 1723–1735. The Persians destroyed it in the 1740s. It was rebuilt in 1846–1851 by the Italian architect Giovanni Scudieri, then rebuilt again in its current red-brick form in 1895, funded by the Azerbaijani philanthropist Zeynalabdin Taghiyev of Baku (who substantially reworked its eastern side); it was restored again in 1998.

The building is constructed of red brick and combines neo-Gothic and Islamic elements — the arched windows along its walls are unusual for a mosque, and an octagonal minaret marks it from a distance. It stands on a steep slope in the dense fabric of Abanotubani, with a madrasa (religious school) alongside. Inside, the arrangement is the standard one — a carpeted prayer hall, a mihrab indicating the direction of Mecca, largely unadorned walls — at an intimate, congregational scale rather than a monumental one. The atmosphere is one of functional devotion rather than architectural spectacle.

The neighborhood

The value of visiting the Juma Mosque is inseparable from where it stands. Walking from Sioni Cathedral — the historic heart of Georgian Orthodox Christianity — through the Old Town to Abanotubani and reaching the mosque within a few minutes makes the point about Tbilisi's religious geography more directly than any description. The sulfur-bath domes, the Orthodox churches, an Armenian church a short distance away, the synagogue, and the mosque's minaret share the same compact urban space, and have for centuries. This coexistence was not always harmonious — the region's history includes periods of conflict between these communities — but it was persistent, and the physical closeness of the religious buildings is the most direct evidence of that persistence.

The mosque is busiest at Friday prayers and during Ramadan and the Eid holidays, when the congregation is largest and the neighborhood takes on a particular character. Outside those times it is open to respectful visitors, and the quiet of a mid-afternoon visit — stepping inside briefly, then back out into the steam and cobblestones of Abanotubani — offers a stillness the busier parts of the Old Town rarely provide.

Visiting

• Location: Botanikuri (Botanical) Street, Abanotubani, Old Tbilisi — at the foot of Narikala, by the sulfur baths.
• Hours: Open daily; visitors are welcome outside prayer times. Friday midday prayers draw the largest congregation and may limit visitor access then.
• Admission: Free.
• Dress code: Modest dress for all visitors — shoulders and knees covered; women cover their heads; shoes are removed before entering the prayer hall. As an active mosque, visit quietly and respectfully, and avoid visiting during prayers unless you are there to pray.
• Combine with: The Abanotubani sulfur baths, Sioni Cathedral, the Great Synagogue, Narikala (above), and the Old Town — the mosque is part of the multi-religious Old Town cluster.