Hala Sultan Tekke, the mosque beside the salt lake

To me, Hala Sultan Tekke is one of the loveliest sights in Cyprus, a dome and minaret among palm trees on the far side of the salt lake. But it’s not just a postcard. It’s one of the most important places of Islamic pilgrimage in the eastern Mediterranean and a site with thousands of years of history.

The tomb of Umm Haram

The Larnaca Tourism Board explains that tradition links the site to Umm Haram bint Milhan, a companion and relative of the Prophet Muhammad, known on the island as Hala Sultan, «the royal aunt». According to tradition, she came to Cyprus with an Arab expedition in the 7th century, during the caliphate of Uthman, and died around 648-649 after falling from her mount. She was buried here, and the place became a focus of prayer and pilgrimage.

The mosque and the convent

What you see today is Ottoman. The UNESCO Tentative List entry sets out several phases. In 1760 the governor Mehmet Aga enclosed the tomb and the mausoleum went up. The mosque, in classical Ottoman style, was completed in 1817. The dervish convent, with separate areas for men and women, dates from 1813, and the fountain from 1830. The tomb, says the entry, sits within a prehistoric monument of large blocks.

Between 2002 and 2005 a major restoration took place with international help, including from USAID, and the excavations that went with it found far older remains. Next to the mosque there was an important Late Bronze Age urban centre, with a cemetery excavated by the Swedish mission, plus Classical and Hellenistic remains.

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UNESCO Tentative List

In 2016 Cyprus put Hala Sultan Tekke and the Larnaca Salt Lake complex on UNESCO’s Tentative List, the step before a World Heritage nomination. The entry stresses that the place combines ecological, religious, historical and archaeological values in a unique way.

Opening hours and etiquette

Entry is free and donations are welcome. It opens 8:30 to 19:30 in summer and 8:30 to 17:00 in winter. On Fridays at 13:30 it closes to visitors during prayers. It’s a working mosque, so shoulders and knees must be covered and voices kept low. It’s wheelchair accessible if you ask the guard at the entrance, and groups can arrange guided tours with the trust that runs it. Muslims who attend Friday prayers are welcome at the lunch that follows, by contacting the trust beforehand.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Hala Sultan Tekke and pick one that fits your day.

Combining it

The mosque is about 3 km from Larnaca on the road to Kiti and about 1.6 km from the airport as the crow flies. I’d combine it with a walk by the salt lake and the Kamares aqueduct, and, if you carry on west, with the church of Panagia Angeloktisti at Kiti.

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