===Early history===

 

H. F. B. Lynch, who visited Erivan in 1890s, wrote: "There is nothing very remarkable in the architecture of the mosque; but the floral paintings which adorn the ceiling of a companion and smaller edifice on the north side of the court are of very high merit."{{sfn|Lynch|1901|p=214}} Luigi Villari, an Italian diplomat and historian, gave a detailed description of the mosque in his 1906 book titled ''Fire and Sword in the Caucasus''. He wrote that the "great mosque called the Gok Djami [...] is a good deal more than a mosque; it is a long quadrangle containing several places of worship and a number of cells, schools, and offices of the Moslem religious administration. It is not very ancient [...] but it is handsome."{{sfn|Villari|1906|p=224}} The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' (1911) described the mosque as the "finest building in the city."<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Erivan_(town)|short=x}}</ref> The [[minaret]] of the mosque, standing at {{convert|24|m}} was the tallest structure in 19th century Yerevan.{{sfn|Darieva|2016|p=297}}