Building began in 1656 and was completed in 1658 under Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar I, on the site of an earlier mosque from 1153. It is made of interlocking coral blocks, a stone soft enough to cut when wet that hardens as it dries; its walls carry carved Quranic inscriptions, and inside are lacquered woodwork and a carved 13th-century panel recording the arrival of Islam in the islands.

The minaret was added in 1675, after the sultan returned from Hajj, and a 17th-century cemetery of carved headstones surrounds the mosque. It has been in use since it was built, and we time your visit around the prayers.