Big minaret
September 29
A ledge adjoins the northern wall of the Cathedral Mosque – this is the foundation of the Great Minaret, the image of which is preserved in old drawings and paintings. A valuable description of the monument was made by P.S. Pallas in 1769: “The most significant of these towers or mizgir is made of hewn stones slightly higher than 12 sazhens. It is accessed by a steep staircase with 72 steps, each of which is as high as a Paris foot (pied de roi). This staircase was repaired, and the tower was covered with a wooden roof”. The big minaret was a 2-4-meter column consisting of upper small and lower large cylinders. The lower cylinder through the octahedral tier passed into a square base of 5×5 meters. A spiral staircase led inside, which was illuminated by 6 small windows. On its middle height there was an Arabic inscription – a saying from the Quran.
By Peter the Great’s decree, the Great Minaret was repaired, but it has not survived to this day (it was destroyed in 1841). Shortly before its fall, it was observed by the English scientist E. Turnerelli. At the end of the XX century it was again restored according to numerous drawings and paintings. At the beginning of the XXI century, the mosque remains in a semi-destroyed state.
The reference to the source: https://bulgar.pnzgu.ru/culture/architecture
