In Kazakhstan, former President Nursultan Nazarbayev has opened the largest mosque in Central Asia. The sacred building with a nearly 90-meter-high dome in the capital Nur-Sultan can pray for 35,000 people at once, including 5,000 women in a separate hall. In addition, the mosque offers space for another 200,000 worshipers on the open-air grounds. This makes it one of the ten largest mosques in the world.
The “Main Mosque of the Republic” was built on the initiative of Nazarbayev. He himself laid the foundation stone for the church in March 2019, a day before resigning as head of state after 30 years at the head of the former Soviet republic. In Kazakhstan about 70 percent of the population professes Islam.
Underground parking garage, TV studio and museum
The dome of the mosque has a diameter of 62 meters, the minarets are each 130 meters high. The twelve meter high entrance door made of African Iroko wood is one of the tallest wooden doors in the world. Inside, in addition to the prayer rooms, there is also a conference room, a Koran reading room, a television studio and a museum. In the basement there is a banquet hall, lobby and underground parking.
patrons and Construction costs unknown
“May Allah hear all prayers here,” Nazarbayev said at the mosque’s opening. No public money was spent on the construction. It is not known what the construction of the 68,000 square meter church cost and who paid for it. It was built on a ten-hectare site in the south of the capital.
In the authoritarian country, religion is officially considered a private matter. However, the leadership of the multi-ethnic state has been trying for years to form a national identity that also includes Islam.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
