Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque

Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque is one of the most revered shrines of the Muslim world after Mecca, Medina and Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Erected at the burial site of Umm Haram, aunt of the prophet Muhammad. According to the legend, Allah appeared in a dream to Mohammed when he stayed in the house of Umm Haram.

According to tradition, noble women accompanied their husbands and brothers in campaigns to raise morale and care for the wounded. Umm Haram arrived on the island with the first troops of the Arab conquerors. Cyprus was the first and successful naval expedition of the Arab caliphate during the conquests of the VII-VIII centuries.

During the battle in the vicinity of Larnaca, in 649, Umm Haram fell from a mule and crashed to death. They buried her in the same place, on the shore of a salt lake. A grave of a meteorite weighing 15 tons, brought by the angels from the sacred Mount Sinai, was installed on the grave. Up until World War I, Turkish ships lowered flags and fired volleys as a mark of respect for the shrine. At the burial site in 1760 a mausoleum was built, and in 1816 a mosque.