For more than 10 years, Mufti Albir Krganov, chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Muslims of Russia (RSMR), has been seeking permission to build a mosque in Moscow. His project has now received the official approval of the Moscow government and the personal support of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The new mosque will be built as part of a large interfaith complex that will be located in New Moscow, near the Kommunarka metro station. In addition to the mosque, the complex will include an Orthodox church, a Buddhist temple, a datsan, framed by «lotus petals», and a modern synagogue.
As Dmitry Shvidkovsky, President of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Building Sciences, rector of the Moscow Architectural Institute (MARKHI), noted, the project of the Muslim part of the complex carefully preserves the traditions of Islam and at the same time carries architectural forms symbolizing the national characteristics of the peoples of Russia and Russian statehood, as well as elements of modern technological solutions, which makes the project unique.
The author of the architectural concept of the entire project was Alexey Kapustin, Associate professor at the Moscow Art Institute. His portfolio includes extensive experience in designing religious buildings, as well as restoring historical cities and settlements. In particular, he created projects for Orthodox churches in Diveevo, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir regions, the cathedral in honor of the Royal Passion-Bearers Romanov in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the temple complex of the Russian Orthodox Exarchate in Uganda. Kapustin also worked on a project to restore the ensemble.
Voznesensky Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin.
The traditional architecture of the mosque will bear the features of Tatar culture — a single minaret, ornamentation,
cornices, as well as bright details that have direct references to various historical sites in Moscow — for example, the domes will resemble the domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square, one of the world’s most famous symbols of Moscow; the drum of the central dome is St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul, a symbol of the kinship of the architectural cultures of Christianity and Islam, and The drums and pylons of the elements of the composition are the towers of the Moscow Kremlin. The doors and walls of the mosque will be made in the Muslim tradition. The height of the building is about 40 meters.
The mosque, like the museum, will also have a courtyard with a colonnade. Both buildings form a symmetrical composition — they are identical up to the cornice level. But if the mosque has domes, then the museum has a circular glass roof overlooking the embankment. A special place for prayer services has also been designed near the mosque, and if on the days
of major holidays all worshippers cannot fit inside and on the territory near the temple, then there is a spacious playground on the level below.
«Since the mosque is from Moscow, it is a synthesis, a reference to various architectural objects of the capital. It seems to you that the mosque is traditional, but for all its canonicity, we have added a lot of non
—standard eclecticism,» notes Alexey Kapustin.
As Albir Krganov has already announced, the mosque in New Moscow will be named after the first Mufti of Russia, Mukhametzhan Khusainov, this decision was made at a meeting of the presidium of the Spiritual Assembly of Russia.
Next year, the spiritual assembly of Muslims of Russia is going to begin direct
the construction of the temple, and now the work on the project documentation is being completed.
The project of the complex is a symbol of the unique state-religious relations that have developed in Russia, and demonstrates to the whole world that it is in Russia that all world religions can not only peacefully coexist, but also develop together with the full support of society and the Government.
The Muslim part of the center will be represented not only by a mosque, but also by a madrasah and a Museum of Islamic Civilization.
There are currently four large mosques in Moscow.
The biggest one
Cathedral in Vypolzovy Lane, which opened after reconstruction in 2015
The oldest
The historical mosque on Bolshaya Tatarskaya Street, founded in 1823
The youngest
- Memorial on Poklonnaya Gora, built in 1997
- A complex of mosques under one roof — the Tatar «Yardyam» and the Azerbaijani «Inam» («Faith» and «Help»), built in 1999