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The white-and-blue mosque’s central dome stands 39 meters high and the four main minarets are each 57 meters high.
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By
Damir Ahmad, IOL Correspondent
KAZAN,
June 24, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Qul Sharif Mosque, Europe’s
largest mosque, was opened Friday, June 24, in the capital of the
former Soviet republic of Tatarstan, marking the celebrations of the
1000th anniversary of
the establishment of the Tatar capital.
The
opening of the newly-built mosque was attended by thousands of Tatar
Muslims, as well as a host of senior officials and foreign guests.
The
two-tiered mosque has two pavilions and ornamental pools, with the
upper level reserved for performing prayers while the lower floor is
for museum excursions.
The
white-and-blue mosque’s central dome stands 39 meters high and the
four main minarets are each 57 meters high.
The
mosque construction cost around 375 million rubles, most of which were
donated by the Tatar people.
The
construction works in the mosque had begun in 1996 at the orders of
President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaymiev to build the mosque following
the example of Turkish architecture.
Old
Mosque
The
mosque is built on the site of the old eight-minaret Qul Sharif mosque
in the capital Kazan. The old mosque was destroyed by the Russian
troops when stormed the city in 1552 completing the annexation of the
Kazan Khanate to the Russian Empire.
Prominent
Muslim scholar Qul Sharif was killed during the siege of the city and
his name was given to the rebuilt mosque.
Tatarstan
is situated in the center of the Russian Federation on the
East-European Plain at the confluence of the two greatest rivers --
the Volga and the Kama.
Since
the early days of Islam, individual Muslims and delegations visited
the region of Volga-Bulgaria, today's Tatarstan.
By
the year 922, Islam had spread in the region and had been adopted as
an official religion.
At
the beginning of the 13th century, Volga-Bulgaria was captured by the
Mongols and forcibly included into the Golden Horde.
By
the beginning of the 15th century, the Golden Horde, which by then was
a Muslim state, had broken down into several states, the strongest of
which was Kazan Khanate.
In
1552, Kazan fell to the invading troops of Ivan the Terrible and Islam
was persecuted until the end of the 18th century.
