18 Urta-Kapy St., Derbent, Republic of Dagestan, Russia, 368600
The Bala Mosque is located in the upper part of the city of Derbent, near the "Orta-Kapy" gates. The mosque dates back to the 11th–19th centuries. It is a neighborhood mosque. During the siege of Derbent in 1796 by the troops of General V. Zubov, the building was destroyed. Later, a new one-story building with a flat roof, without a dome, was built on its site. The date of construction, 1225 Hijri (1812), is indicated by a carved inscription above the entrance. The mosque has a rectangular shape with somewhat irregular outlines. The mosque's interior is elongated along the longitudinal axis. The northern facade has 3 window openings of varying widths. The facade masonry consists of stones of different sizes fitted together, ranging from large stones, some nearly a meter in certain directions, to small ones that a mason can easily lift. Apparently, stone waste left over from the restoration in 1812 of the nearby Orta-Kapy gates and the southern fortress wall, which were destroyed by the siege artillery of General Zubov, was used for the building's facade.
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