Diyarbakır's most impressive mosque is the Ulu Cami, built in 1091 by a Seljuk sultan. Incorporating elements from an earlier Byzantine church on the site, it was restored in 1155 after a fire. The rectangular layout is Arabic, rather than Ottoman. The entrance portal, adorned with two medallions figuring a lion and a bull, leads to a huge courtyard with two-storey arcades, two cone-shaped şadırvans (ritual ablutions fountains), elaborate pillars, and friezes featuring fruits and vegetables.
