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The new mosque will be established in downtown Cannes on a space of 2,000 meters |
PARIS — Unique for its design and architecture, a new mosque will be opened early this year in the southern French city of Cannes to absorb the growing numbers of Muslim worshippers in the city.
"The new mosque is marked for its unique design," architect Emile di Matteo told IslamOnline.net on Friday, 12.
The new mosque will be established in Bocca neighborhood in downtown Cannes on a space of 2,000 meters.
"Its design is quite different from traditional mosque designing. It neither has minarets nor domes which mark the traditional mosque architecture," added di Matteo.
"Rather, the 800-metre prayer hall will look like a triangle arrow referring to the qiblah (direction of the Ka`bah)," he added.
Granted the municipal green light, the new mosque will cost nearly two million euros raised by the sizable Muslim minority in the city.
"The mosque design marks a revolution in mosque architecture. It will be totally different from the usual structures," added Matteo.
Cannes, which is home to 7,000 Muslims, has only one mosque.
There are 1,685 mosques and prayer rooms in France, according to a tally by the French interior ministry.
Significant
Di Matteo said the Cannes mosque design is his most significant.
"The design gains further importance as it linked to a certain religion, making it a very sensitive issue, especially for Muslims in the West," he added.
"Therefore, I sought to meet demands of both the Muslim minority in Cannes and the municipality council."
The new design of the Cannes mosques has won plaudits from French Muslims.
Daw Meskine, the head of the French council for Imams, said the absence of minarets in the mosque design does not underestimate the value of the mosque.
"The construction of minarets is not a pre-requisite," he told IOL.
"The minarets are nothing but additions that do not devalue the mosque in case they did not exist."
"Rather, the minarets remind us of the glory of the Islamic faith and civilization and demonstrate a state recognition of Islam as a basic component of French society," he added.
The construction of the Cannes mosque has been faced with mounting opposition from the right-wing groups in the city.
The right-wing groups have pressed for blocking the construction of mosques in France, arguing that churches were not allowed in Muslim countries.
France is home to some 5-6 million Muslims, making up the biggest Muslim minority in Europe.
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