Friday mosque · Samarkand City

Panjob Mosque

Type

Friday mosque

District

Samarkand City

Built

19th century

Renovated

early 1990s

The Friday mosque of the Shia community in Panjob mahalla. Built in the 19th century and closed after 1924, it was thoroughly restored and returned to worshippers in the early 1990s.

Panjob mahalla, Samarkand

History

The mosque takes its name from Panjob, a historic district of Samarkand whose Persian name means 'five waters'. The neighbourhood is home mainly to Central Asian Iranians of the Shia faith, and the mosque serves their community.

Built in the 19th century, it remained in use until 1924; under Soviet rule it was closed and the building passed to various organisations. In the early 1990s the local Iranian community had the mosque and its adjoining madrasa thoroughly restored, and craftsmen invited from Iran took part in later work.

Today

The mosque is active, and the Shia mourning rites of Ashura are held here every year. The neighbouring 19th-century madrasa, listed nationally as the Khoja Bobo (Panjob) madrasa, has a bronze statue of the poet Ferdowsi in its courtyard.

Official list: Listed by the Samarkand branch of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan (sammuslim.uz).

Visiting a mosque: cover shoulders and knees (women should wear a headscarf) and take your shoes off at the door; avoid prayer times and ask before taking photos.

Details come from official sources and were checked in October 2026. Details may change — please check before you visit. Something wrong? Let us know

Sources (7)