Taksim Mosque ( tr, Taksim Camii) is a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...

complex in

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. It was designed by two Turkish architects in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

style, and can hold up to 3,000 worshippers at the same time. Construction began on February 17, 2017 and lasted for four years. The mosque was inaugurated with a

Friday prayer In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer (''ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day accordin ...

attended by the President, Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, on 28 May 2021. The land on which the mosque was built is currently owned by the Directorate General of Foundations.

History

The plan for a mosque in Taksim Square has been in the making since 1952. The "Taksim Mosque Building and Sustenance Association" was founded with the aim to construct a mosque in Taksim Square, but was closed after the 1980 military coup in Turkey. The Council of State stopped the Taksim Mosque project in 1983 on the grounds that it was "not in the public interest". The Taksim Mosque remained on the agenda of the governments of

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...

in the 1980s and

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later bann ...

in 1996. The project has always been closely scrutinized by the media and has encountered legal obstacles because Taksim Square had been closely associated with republicanism and secularism. A court objected to the construction of the mosque on the grounds that it would be against the public interest. President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (born 1929), Turkish footballer * Recep Akdağ (born 1960), Turkish physician and po ...

had supported the idea of the mosque since becoming Istanbul’s mayor in 1994. The prospect of the new mosque was one element in the

Gezi Park protests A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the Urban Development, urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-i ...

in 2013. In January 2017, the mosque was approved by the

Cultural Monuments Preservation Board Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these grou ...

, which oversees the construction of protected, historic sites, thereby removing the last obstacle to its construction.

Construction Process

Following approval for the construction of the mosque by the Istanbul #2 Regional Council for the Protection of Cultural Heritage on January 19, 2017, it was announced that some small offices and facilities would be demolished. Site preparations started on February 9, 2017. Ahmet Misbah Demircan, the Mayor of

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (, ota, بك‌اوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, mean ...

District, named

Şefik Birkiye Şefik Birkiye (born 1954) is a Turkish-Belgian architect who has designed buildings in Brussels, France, Switzerland, Monaco, the United States, and Turkey. He is the founder of Vizzion Architects, a team which has been designing architecture in ...

the architect of the mosque on February 10, 2017; Sur Yapı was contracted to carry out its construction.

Location

The mosque is located just behind

Taksim Maksemi Taksim means "division", "partition", or "distribution" in Turkish, Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Taksim may also refer to: * ''Taksim'' (politics), the Turkish Cypriot political belief in the partition of Cyprus in the Cyprus dispute * Taksim Milit ...

, the stone water storage unit built by

Mahmud I Mahmud I ( ota, محمود اول, tr, I. Mahmud, 2 August 1696 13 December 1754), known as Mahmud the Hunchback, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754. He took over the throne after the Patrona Halil rebellion and he kept g ...

in 1731. The mosque faces the

Atatürk Cultural Center The Atatürk Cultural Center ( ), commonly called the AKM, is a concert hall, theatre and cultural centre running along the eastern side of Taksim Square in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. In 2021, it reopened to the public as a state-of-the-art cultural co ...

across

. The pedestrian shopping street, Istiklal Caddesi, runs off Taksim Square beside the mosque. The Hagia Triada Greek Orthodox Church is on the other side of Istiklal Caddesi from the mosque.

Architectural Features

Excluding the two

minarets A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally ...

, the mosque’s height is approximately , making it the same height as the two historical churches in the vicinity. The mosque has been designed in a modern take on the traditional domed style associated with Sinan and has been cleverly tailored to fit its confined setting. The complex includes a conference and exhibition hall and an underground parking garage. File:Taksim_monument_and_mosque.jpg, Mosque with Taksim Monument in the foreground File:Taksim_Mosque_Dome.jpg File:Taksim_Mosque_Mihrab.jpg File:Taksim_Mosque_Minbar.jpg File:Central_Dome_in_Taksim_Mosque.jpg File:Dome_of_the_Taksim_Mosque.jpg File:20220323-L1020968.jpg, Night view of the mosque during the month of Ramadan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taksim Mosque Mosques in Istanbul Mosques completed in 2021 2021 establishments in Turkey Beyoğlu Art Deco architecture

History

Construction Process

Location

Architectural Features

See also

References