Great Mosque (Brussels)
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The Grand Mosque in Brussels is located in the Jubelpark and is the oldest and largest mosque in Brussels . It is the seat of the Belgian Center for Islam and Culture .
The building was built in 1880 by Ernest Van Humbeek in a Moorish style as an "oriental pavilion" for the Belgian national exhibition. It was originally used to record the monumental fresco »Panorama of Cairo« by Emile Wauters . In the 20th century, the building fell into disrepair due to a lack of maintenance work.
On the occasion of a state visit by the Saudi King Faisal in 1967, the Belgian King Baudouin offered the Saudi monarch the pavilion for the establishment of a mosque - with a lease for 99 years in return for cheap oil deliveries.
The building was renovated at the expense of Saudi Arabia by the Tunisian architect Mongi Boubaker and opened as a cultural center and mosque in 1978 in the presence of Kings Khalid and Baudouin.
Today the mosque also houses a school and an Islamic research facility. The imams and the director are funded by the Islamic World League .
Individual evidence
- ^ Islamic Center - From Museum to Community Center - A Profile , June 2003
- ↑ a b Deutschlandradio Kultur : Cheap oil against radical proselytizing
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′ 36 ″ N , 4 ° 23 ′ 16 ″ E