Deggaron Mosque

History

The mosque was studied in 1946 by the Hermitage's Panjakent expedition under A. Yu. Yakubovsky, who dated it to the 7th–9th centuries. More recent research places it around the 11th century and no later than the 12th — scholars still disagree on the date. It was built on the remains of an even older structure, and archaeologists found the walls of an ancient fortified settlement around it. The village was later abandoned after a drought.

Deggaron means 'potters', after the pottery craft that flourished here in the Middle Ages. The mosque has been restored and is still in use; it is part of the Mavlono Orif Deggaroni complex.

Architecture

What makes it unique is a plan more typical of pre-Islamic temples: a central dome carried on four pillars and surrounded by smaller domes. The layout recalls Zoroastrian fire temples as well as early Christian churches. Early Islamic builders used clusters of small domes on columns rather than a single large dome, and Deggaron is one of the few such buildings to survive.

It is built of fired brick, with the spaces under the domes flowing into one another.