Strasbourg Mosque
Coordinates: 48°34′23.0″N 7°44′13.8″E / 48.573056°N 7.737167°E
The Strasbourg Mosque or Great Mosque of Strasbourg (French: Grande Mosquée de Strasbourg) is a large purpose-built Islamic mosque in the Heyritz area, south of the Ile de Strasbourg. It was inaugurated in September 2012.
It is designed by Paolo Portoghesi,[1] who also designed the Rome Mosque. The design competition included a futuristic proposal by Zaha Hadid.[2]
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.[3]
The new mosque has a capacity of 1,200 people.[4] The first stone of the new mosque was laid on 29 October 2004 by the then Mayor of Strasbourg Fabienne Keller.[5] 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]
It is frequented by Muslims of North African, 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.[7] 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.
External links
References
- ↑ For Strasbourg, an Italian designer Mosque, Daily Star, Lebanon, 14 January 2005
- ↑ Zana Hadid's design at the Victoria and Albert Museum
- ↑ Le Point, 18 April 2009
- ↑ Future Grande Mosquée de Strasbourg, article of 24 May 2009
- ↑ A giant mosque for Strasbourg, Brussels Journal, 1 April 2008
- ↑ Steven Erlanger: "A pro-church law helps a mosque, New York Times, 6 October 2008
- ↑ Histoires de mosquées, Schiltigheim : Editions Kalina, 2004, ISBN 2-914888-04-X
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