The famous Blue Mosque in Iravan was built in the 1760s by Huseynali Khan, Khan of Iravan. This mosque, measuring 97.2 x 66 meters, was the largest mosque in the Caucasus. It got its name from the blue tiles that its dome is covered with.

The main buildings of the Blue Mosque were on the south and north sides of the mosque. Auxiliary buildings and cells were located on its sides. A small pool was built in the courtyard of the mosque, surrounded by stones and planted with trees. The mosque had three doors: two small doors facing north and east, and a large entrance door facing south. The mosque building was located in the southern district. The building consisted of three interconnected halls.

In 1936, the Iravan City History Museum was located in the building of the Blue Mosque. After the start of the 1941–1945 war, for a while the Blue Mosque was used as an ammunition depot. In the post-war period, the mosque housed the Museum of Natural Sciences, and since 1952, a planetarium for astronomy lovers was operating in the small prayer hall of the mosque.

After Armenia gained independence in 1991, the issue of the Blue Mosque to function as a mosque arouse. Thus, the mosque was first used as a Museum of Natural Sciences in 1991, and in 1994, the Museum of History was removed from the mosque complex. In the following years, the mosque was restored “as an example of Persian culture” and was covered with red bricks.

Currently, Armenian officials present the Blue Mosque to foreign visitors as a “Persian mosque”.

Sources:
Ələkbərli Ə., Qərbi Azərbaycan abidələri (Bakı: “Nurlan”, 2007)
Nazim Mustafa, İrəvan xanlığı: Erməni vandallarının yox etdiyi İrəvan məscidləri (Bakı, 2016)
Nazim Mustafa, İrəvan şəhəri (Bakı, 2020)
Аруманян В., Асратян М., Меликян А, Ереван (1968)
H.F.B., Armenia. Travels and Studies (London, 1901)
Transkaukasien, Persien, Mesopotamien, Transkaspien (Berlin, 1899)