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.
Photo gallery
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.
