Prophet Younis Mosque

The mosque is one of most famous mosques in Mosul, northern Iraq. It is situated at the left bank of Tigris River on a hill called " Prophet Younis Hill" and the other name is "al- Tawba HILL " It was named in this way due to "younan Bin Matty " and the story of the whale that was mentioned in AL-Quran and the Bible.

Younis, the prophet who in disobeying God’s command, was punished by being thrown into the sea and swallowed by a whale. After spending many nights inside the whale in earnest prayers, God forgave him.

His shrine is situated on a high hill in Mosul (Nehneva Province), 450 km northern Iraq. Pilgrimages and visitors flock to it from every where.

The shrine and the mosque have undergone certain changes. New houses, watering places, blue glazed-brick buildings and a limestone minaret have been built.

An intensive campaign to develop and upkeep the shrine started in 1989. It intended to modernize the shrine service facilities in a way that would suit its religious and historic status, such as electric, health and mechanical systems, decorating walls with inscription, gypsum and Quran chapters, covering arches and support them with iron frames. The mosque walls have been covered with marble and the ceiling with brick and supply it with modern light and air conditioning systems.

The mosque is one of the sacred places in Ninevah where people and monks visit in certain occasions. It was first an Asserian temple, afterwards the place changed to became a place for fire worshipers, then a monastery, and a church, finally it became an Islamic mosque.

In one of the rooms inside the mosque, there is the prophet Younis' shrine. On the walls of the room one can see the whale bones.

The conic brass domes of the mosque can be seen from the outside. A winged statue is situated near the mosque, which is the sign of the Asserian civilization that was found through excavations during restoring the mosque. Besides, there is a well known as " Prophet Younis Well " where he bathed after the whale released him.