Thousands of believers, including religious figures from other countries, took part in the large-scale opening celebrations of the central mosque of Chechnya named after Akhmat Kadyrov.
Report by Oleg Shishkin.
It is believed that this Muslim ritual - dhikr - has been preserved only among the Chechens: the collective chanting of suras from the Koran, and then the circulation of tens and hundreds of people almost stopping, then quickly picking up speed at lightning speed. This is exactly how Muslims meet important events in life - through collective prayer.
Today a new mosque was opened in Grozny. The largest, the tallest and, of course, the townspeople are sure, the most beautiful. Among the guests are religious leaders from 30 countries, including the Arab states of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar and Egypt.
Next to Muslim religious figures are Orthodox hierarchs. Peaceful coexistence of different religions is the key to peace, including in the North Caucasus.
Said-Emin Dzhabrailov, member of the Public Chamber of the Chechen Republic: “We haven’t even dreamed about this for five years. This suggests that we are experiencing not only a socio-economic revival, but also a spiritual and moral revival, taking into account our traditions.”
The new mosque, in fact, claims a place in encyclopedias and reference books: the largest in Europe, it can simultaneously accommodate 10 thousand people. Even by eastern standards, the mosque is strikingly luxurious: the famous white marble from the island of Marmara Adasy was used in its decoration - it was delivered to the Chechen Republic on special flights.
The best Turkish masters painted the mosque. Moreover, paints with special additives were used, which guarantees the preservation of the color scheme for at least the next half century. All sacred verses - as Muslims call texts from the Koran - are written in gold of the highest standard.
There are 36 chandeliers installed in the mosque. And each is a real work of art. All of them, with their shapes, resemble places sacred to Muslims - mosques in Jerusalem, Medina and the Kaaba shrine in Mecca.
Amruddin Edelgiriev, project coordinator: “There are similar mosques, but there are no analogues to this one, and in such a short time there is definitely no such beautiful mosque in the world.”
The idea of its construction belongs to Akhmad Kadyrov. His followers went further - they made the project more ambitious: now it is a complex of buildings that includes the spiritual administration of Muslims, a library and the Russian Islamic University. Already next year, leading theologians of the Muslim world, among others, will be heard here.
Sultan Mirzaev, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Chechen Republic: “This center is called the “Heart of Chechnya”. You see, well, how else could such a wonderful center be called.”
The mosque also has its own television studio. The entire republic watched the opening ceremony live today. Tomorrow the broadcasts of the International Islamic Forum will begin from here. It is being held in the Chechen Republic for the second time and has become traditional.
The “Heart of Chechnya” mosque in the city of Grozny is one of the most majestic, large and beautiful mosques not only in Europe, but throughout the world. The mosque is located in the center of a huge park on the banks of the Sunzha River and is part of the Islamic complex, which also includes the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Chechen Republic and the Russian Islamic University named after Kunta-Hadji. Opened in October 2008, the mosque is named in honor of the first president of the Chechen Republic - Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov.
Mosque with a total area of 5 thousand square meters. m and with a capacity of more than 10 thousand people, built in the classical Ottoman style. The main hall of the Grozny mosque is covered with a massive, more than 15 m in diameter, dome with a height of over 23 m. The height of each of the four minarets is 63 m. These are the tallest minarets in Russia. The walls of the mosque, both external and external, are decorated with travertine marble delivered from the Turkish city of Burdur, and the interior is decorated with snow-white marble.
One of the main decorations of the interior of the “Heart of Chechnya” mosque was the exclusive 36 chandeliers, whose shapes very much resemble the three most important Islamic shrines. Located under the main dome, the largest chandelier of the mosque (8 m) is shaped like the Kaaba shrine in Mecca, 8 chandeliers imitate the Rovzatu-Nebevi mosque in Medina, and 27 chandeliers were made in the image of the Qubbbatu-as Sahra mosque in Jerusalem. The creation of this exclusive collection of chandeliers with Chechen ornaments took up to 3 kg of gold of the highest standard, several tons of bronze, over 1 million parts, as well as Swarovski crystals.
The best Turkish masters painted the mosque. For painting, they used special natural and synthetic paints, which have the ability to maintain the original color scheme for 50 years.
The “Heart of Chechnya” mosque with its beautiful three-level night lighting and the huge park spread around it with a cascade of amazing colored fountains amaze every visitor with its beauty.
One of the most beautiful and largest mosques in Russia, “Heart of Chechnya,” was built in Grozny already in this century. Construction lasted only 2.5 years, after which in the very center of Grozny, on the banks of the Sunzha, the main building of the Islamic Center rose into the sky with four minarets. Founded by the decision of the first president of Chechnya, Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov, the mosque bears his name. For Grozny and the entire Chechen Republic, the mosque is a symbol of the revived capital and a renewed, growing and prosperous Chechnya.
When in 2000 Akhmat Kadyrov was offered to move the capital from the destroyed city to Gudermes, he refused and Grozny remained the capital of Chechnya and began to be reborn from the ashes. After the death of the first president, the Chechen parliament proposed renaming the city in honor of him and calling it Akhmadkala, but Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov and the current president of the republic, was against the renaming.
History of construction
The history of the construction of the mosque goes back to the USSR period. Construction work first began in 1980 by decision of the Soviet government, but after the collapse of the USSR it was stopped. New construction began in 1997, when the Mufti of Chechnya, Akhmat-Hadji Kadyrov, entered into an agreement with the mayor’s office of Konya (Turkey) on the construction of a Cathedral Mosque for 2 thousand people in the center of Grozny. During the Chechen war, the buildings of the regional committee of the CPSU, the station of young technicians of the republic, secondary school No. 1 and the Grozny Oil Institute (GNI) were destroyed. Construction of the mosque began on this site, but was suspended in 1999 due to the unstable situation and military operations.
New, larger-scale construction began in 2006.
The memory of Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov is very strong among the Chechen people. Streets and squares are named after him, his portraits decorate houses. The famous sculptor Zurab Tsereteli presented Grozny with a monument to the first president, which was erected in the city center in 2005, but dismantled in 2009, since Kadyrov himself bequeathed that no monuments be erected to him. The best monument to him will be a memorial complex installed on the square bearing his name and dedicated to those killed at the hands of terrorists. The memorial is located opposite the Heart of Chechnya mosque. The words of Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov himself are carved on the largest stone of the memorial: “Let justice prevail.”
Location of the mosque
The area of the Islamic Center, of which the main mosque of Grozny became a part, covers an area of 14 hectares. The Islamic complex of the Chechen Republic is distinguished from similar buildings in other places by its bright colors and rich decoration. The Russian Islamic University, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Chechen Republic, a hotel and hostel for students and an Islamic library are also located on its territory. And also a huge and beautiful garden with bushes trimmed in the form of a Chechen ornament, with a complex of colored fountains dancing in the night illumination and flowering alleys. This is a place of relaxation, a place where people enjoy life.
Not far from the mosque is the administration of the city of Grozny and a modern courthouse.
Against the background of the Grozny City complex, located nearby, the mosque looks very organic, as a symbol of common traditions and progress. The Grozny City complex is also one of the symbols of the city of Grozny, consisting of 8 multi-storey buildings, the tallest of which is a 40-storey residential building - the 145m Phoenix Tower. The complex also includes a five-star hotel and two residential buildings of 28 floors each, a thirty-story office building with a helipad on the roof and two more residential buildings of 18 floors each. The panorama of the complex and the mosque is very beautiful during the day, but at night, interestingly illuminated, the panorama looks simply magnificent.
More than 10,000 people can pray in the “Heart of Chechnya”. Another 10,000 people can be accommodated in the summer gallery and square next to the temple.
Not far from the mosque is the Orthodox Church of the Archangel Michael. The temple was erected at the end of the 19th century. Unfortunately, during the fighting in Chechnya, the church was almost completely destroyed. Now the temple has been restored, new bells have been cast, the domes are covered with gold, and services continue.
Description of a mosque in Chechnya, Grozny
The majestic architecture of the central dome, surrounded by slender minarets, is classical Ottoman and similar to Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque, built 400 years ago. The external and internal walls of the mosque are decorated with precious travertine marble, the interior decoration is made of white marble brought from Fr. Marmara Adasi, which is located in the Sea of Marmara.
The direction to Mecca during prayer is indicated by a huge prayer niche made of white marble. The niche creates a visual illusion of a path stretching into infinity. The patterned painting of the vaults and walls was done by Turkish masters with special durable paints that will not fade or fade for the next 50 years. To write verses from the Koran, they used sputtering of the highest standard gold.
One of the decorations of the mosque are 36 unique chandeliers, with a configuration reminiscent of world mosques: 27 pieces - the famous Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (Kubbat al-Sakhra), 8 pieces - the mosque in Medina, Rovzatu-Nebevi and the most gigantic, 8-meter high - the Kaaba in Mecca . Decorated with specially selected Chechen ornaments, the chandeliers themselves are works of jewelry art, which, in addition to several tons of bronze, took 2.5 kg of pure gold and a million Swarovski crystals.
The mosque has three building lighting systems:
- level, aimed at the lower part of the dome and minarets;
- directional, highlighting individual architectural objects of the building;
- festive, creating the impression of even greater monumentality of the mosque.
The construction of the mosque was carried out taking into account increased seismic resistance.
The lower part of the mosque has an entrance only for men praying, who enter barefoot, and carpets are spread throughout. Before you step into the mosque, you must perform ablution. For this purpose, a specially equipped place with taps and seats has been set up so that you can take off your shoes, wash your feet and only then enter the mosque.
In every possible corner of the mosque there are volumes of the Koran. Women pray on the second floor. Men who are not Muslims can also enter there. The complex is visited by many tourists as one of the main attractions of Grozny.
Now everyone has the opportunity to hear and see the sermons of the imams of the Heart of Chechnya mosque. Since 2012, the mosque has an official website where all current events are posted and its own television and radio studio. In addition, ChGTRK “Grozny” broadcasts live from the mosque twice a day. Information applications have been developed for computers, tablets and smartphones for those who want to expand their knowledge about Islam. All these technologies have significantly expanded the audience of Muslims, who now have the opportunity to join the values of the main mosque in Grozny.
In 2013, at a multimedia competition to select dozens of visual symbols of the state - Russia-10, the mosque in Grozny “Heart of Chechnya” took second place, losing at the last moment only to the Kolomna Kremlin. Almost 37 million people voted for the mosque by telephone.
New construction in Grozny
Currently, in the Chechen Republic, the construction of a new mosque that can accommodate more than 20 thousand people is coming to an end. Construction began in 2012 according to the design of Uzbek architects. The new mosque will be among the twenty largest religious buildings in the world.
The Grozny City complex will soon expand; construction of the second stage of the complex with a grandiose 65-story residential building is scheduled for completion in 2016. A tall, three-hundred-meter building, in addition to residential floors, will be filled with other infrastructure - restaurants and a hotel, a cinema and a commercial real estate block, fountains, etc. – just a city in miniature.
And in 2017 it is planned to complete the construction of the Grozny Thermal Power Plant. Construction is taking place in the Zavodskoy district, on the same territory where CHPP-3 was located before the hostilities.
The city is growing, becoming prettier and, undoubtedly, there are all the prerequisites for it to continue to develop and amaze Grozny residents and guests of the capital with new exciting projects.
V.R.: Congratulations to all Muslims on the holiday of breaking the fast, Eid ul-Fitr (Turkic: Eid al-Fitr, Ramadan Bayram)! Happiness to everyone, health and love!
The "Heart of Chechnya" mosque named after Akhmat Kadyrov in Grozny is one of the largest mosques in Europe and the world. It opened its doors in October 2008 and is named after the first president of the Chechen Republic.The mosque is located in the very center of the capital of the Chechen Republic in a park between V. Putin and Kh. Isaev avenues, has three-level lighting, and around it is a large park with cascades of fountains.
When entering Grozny from the airport, you first see the mosque from this angle
Behind is the Grozny City complex
"Heart of Chechnya" is part of the Islamic complex, which, in addition to the mosque, includes the Russian Islamic University named after Kunta-Hadji and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Chechen Republic
The total area of the mosque, built in the classical Ottoman style, is 5 thousand sq.m.
Let's get closer. Everything blooms and smells - there is a well-kept park around
It was Saturday and there were few visitors, mostly tourists
Wearing a headscarf is optional
The external and internal walls of the mosque are decorated with Turkish travertine marble brought from Burdur. Travertine is a rock that can be used as a natural stone for cladding buildings and interior finishing work. Absolutely safe for humans
The tallest minarets in Russia - 63 meters each
Let's go inside with a short excursion. Men leave their shoes at the entrance...
And Yulka and I are each wearing a “grandmother’s robe” plus a scarf. It's a terribly unaesthetic thing, I tell you.
Adds fifty kilograms to the guest at once. Please don't show me
Men are praying in the lower part, but we quickly go upstairs
The central hall of the mosque is covered with a huge dome with a diameter of 15.5 m and a height of more than 23 m.
The second floor is for women and non-Muslim visitors. At that hour there was no one and we were allowed to go up here
The interior is decorated with white marble
The mosque was painted by the best Turkish masters, who used special natural and synthetic paints for painting, which have the ability to maintain the original color scheme for 50 years
36 chandeliers installed in the mosque, with their shapes reminiscent of the three main shrines of Islam: 27 chandeliers imitate the Kubbatu-as-Sahra mosque in Jerusalem, 8 are modeled after the Rovzatu-Nebevi mosque in Medina and the largest, eight-meter chandelier, repeats the shape of the Kaaba shrine in Mecca
The creation of a collection of exclusive chandeliers took several tons of bronze, about three kilograms of gold, and more than one million parts and Swarovski crystals
The capacity of the "Heart of Chechnya" is more than 10 thousand people
The same number of believers can pray in the summer gallery and square adjacent to the mosque
Last year, “Heart of Chechnya” entered the top ten finalists of the Russia-10 multimedia competition
Evening view of the “Heart of Chechnya” and Grozny City.
Reminds me of Istanbul... However, this is Russia
And a few hundred metro to the right along Putin Avenue there is an Orthodox Church
This is such beauty
