Moscow Cathedral Mosque interior 01-2016 img3

Moscow Cathedral Mosque (russian: Московская соборная мечеть, ''Moskovskaya sobornaya mechet'') is the main mosque of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It is located on Olimpiysky Avenue, close to the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

in the centre of the city.

History

The original structure was built in 1904 according to the design of the architect Nikolay Zhukov and has undergone some reconstructions since then. It was also sometimes called "Tatar Mosque" because its congregation consisted mainly of ethnic

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

. Socially, the Moscow Congregational Mosque was often viewed as the central mosque in Russia. It was one of the four mosques in Moscow. The old mosque was demolished on 11 September 2011. The decision to demolish it was controversial. In June 2008, the mosque was recognized as an object of cultural heritage, however, in the end of 2008 it was removed from the list of historical and architectural monuments. Thus, at the time of demolition, it was not protected. There were plans to reconstruct the mosque, and the reconstruction project was designed by architect Ilyas Tazhiyev. One of the reasons for reconstruction was that the building deviated by several degrees from the direction to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

. The project included disassembling the mosque, collecting all the stones, and re-assembling it again with corrected orientation. In 2009, however, the Council of Muftis dismissed Tazhiyev, first claiming they will make another reconstruction project, and then demolishing the building claiming it was close to collapse. Tazhiyev stated after the demolition that the reconstruction was still possible, and the building was not close to collapse. The Moscow Cathedral Mosque became the first demolished religious building in Moscow since 1978.

New mosque

A new mosque has been built at the site of the former one. It was officially inaugurated on 23 September 2015. The new mosque has the capacity of ten thousand worshippers. Presidents

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

of Russia,

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

of Turkey and

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

together with local Muslim leaders participated in the inauguration ceremony of this mosque.

References

External links

* * *
History of Moscow Cathedral Mosque
*

Russian mosques
{{authority control 1904 establishments in the Russian Empire 2011 disestablishments in Russia 2015 establishments in Russia Buildings and structures demolished in 2011 Demolished buildings and structures in Moscow Destroyed mosques Meshchansky District Mosques in Moscow Mosques completed in 1904 Mosques completed in 2015 Tatar culture 20th-century mosques 21st-century mosques Mosque buildings with domes

History

New mosque

See also

References

External links