Great Mosque of Strasbourg
Grande Mosquée de Strasbourg
Religion
AffiliationIslam
Location
LocationStrasbourg, France
Geographic coordinates48°34′23.0″N 7°44′13.8″E / 48.573056°N 7.737167°E / 48.573056; 7.737167
Architecture
Date establishedSeptember 2012
Capacity1,200

The Strasbourg Mosque or Great Mosque of Strasbourg (French: Grande Mosquée de Strasbourg) is a large purpose-built Islamic mosque in the French city of Strasbourg. It is located on the banks of the Ill river in the Heyritz area, south of the Grande Île. It was inaugurated in September 2012 and has a capacity of 1,200 people.[1]

The mosque is frequented by Muslims of North Africa, mainly Moroccan origin. It hosts many conferences and seminars and has an extensive teaching programme for school-aged children.

The former mosque, in use from 1982 to 2012, consisted of a converted foie gras factory in the Impasse de mai in the centre of Strasbourg, near the law-courts.[2] It was not the first mosque to be established in Strasbourg. There have been mosques in the city since 1967 and there are now over twenty.

History

The mosque was designed by Paolo Portoghesi,[3] who also designed the Mosque of Rome. The design competition included a futuristic proposal by Zaha Hadid.[4] Construction was delayed several times, due to litigation with the main constructors and a decision by the centre-right municipal council of Fabienne Keller to prevent overseas funding.[5] The first stone of the new mosque was laid on 29 October 2004 by the then Mayor of Strasbourg Fabienne Keller. She also revised the original building project, removing the planned study centre, auditorium and minaret and reducing the capacity of the prayer room by 50%.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "May 24, 2009 Archives". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  2. ↑ Histoires de mosquées, Schiltigheim : Editions Kalina, 2004, ISBN 2-914888-04-X
  3. ↑ "For Strasbourg, an Italian designer mosque". 14 January 2005. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  4. ↑ Zana Hadid's design at the Victoria and Albert Museum Archived 2009-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ magazine, Le Point. "Archives - Le Point.fr". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "A Pro-Church Law Helps a Mosque". The New York Times. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2016.


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