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Address: Acheen Street, Penang

Also known as Masjid Melayu Lebuh Acheh, the mosque was built on land donated by Syed Sheriff Tengku Syed Hussain Al-Aidid, an Acheh-Arabian merchant of the Achenese Royal of northern Sumatra who settled in Penang in 1792. The small window halfway up the minaret is said to have originally been a hole made by cannonball fired during the 1867 triad riots. The houses around the mosque are a part of the mid-19th-century Arab village.

Architecturally, the Mosque is essentially hybrids; with a taste of the Moorish influence, oriental forms and Neo-Classical features. The styles can be seen from its arches, windows, columns, hipped roof and other elements on the minaret. The Mosque is a good example of masonry building that is rich in architectural details and vocabulary as well as the adaptation of building elements to the local climate. The external walls are made of bricks which were plastered and painted with lime wash. There has been a succession of colour coatings on the plastered walls starting from white, light blue, yellow to the present colour of ivory. Decorative plastered renderings are featured on the capitals of the interior columns and cornices. Besides plaster and bricks, timber and marble floor tiles are widely used in the building. Timber is used for the roof structures, casement windows, fanlights, grilles and ceilings. Granite can be seen mainly around the pool and the verandah steps. The hipped roof, which resembles most of the Chinese temples, uses asbestos sheets and mortar located underneath the ridges. Later constructions made in the Mosque include metal awning above the verandah, cemented floors, toilets and a modern ablution area.

The minaret was struck by lightning in 1997 just before its scheduled re-opening after a facelift.

Walk clockwise around mosque and you will come to the cemetery where the founder was buried.

How to get there?

Take the Rapid Penang Bus Nos. T10, U103, U301, U302, T308, U401 or U502 to Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, walk down the road to Medan Cannon, and you’d see the Acheen Street Mosque at the end of Medan Cannon. You can also take Rapid Penang Bus Nos. T11, U101, U104, U201, U202, U203, U204 or U206 to nearby Lebuh Chulia, and then walk to Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, following by Medan Cannon.

Location map:

GPS Coordinates: 5°24’51.32″N, 100°20’10.01″E Show on map

Photo Gallery:

3D Panoramic View

Posted by admin on March 4, 2011 under World Heritage.