The Old Friday Mosque, Hukuru Miskiy in Dhivehi, is the oldest mosque in the Maldives and the most important historical building in the country. Built in 1658 on the orders of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar I, it is constructed entirely from quarried coral blocks, fitted together without mortar and decorated with carved Arabic inscriptions and Quranic verses. The interior is lined with lacquered wood panels — black, gold and red — that survived the tropical climate because the building was kept dark and dry.
The mosque is a UNESCO World Heritage tentative-list site. The squat white minaret beside it, the Munnaaru, was built in 1675 and replaced an even older wooden tower. Non-Muslims need permission from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to enter the prayer hall, but the cemetery beside the mosque — with its carved coral headstones marking sultans, queens and historical figures — is generally accessible and worth a quiet wander.