Athenian mosque

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The Athens Mosque ( Greek Τζαμί της Αθήνας ) is a mosque under construction in the Votanikos district of the Greek capital Athens . It is at the opening in April 2017 [date] , the first mosque since the independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire in 1833. It is located in Athens already old mosques from the Ottoman period as the Fethiye Mosque or the Cizderiye Mosque , but profaned and are not may be used more as a mosque.

background

The construction of an official mosque for Athens and its surroundings has been planned since 1890. During this time, a law for the "free transfer of land for the construction of a Turkish mosque in Piraeus " was passed. In the 1970s, ambassadors from Arab states offered to finance a mosque for Athens. It was not until 2000, however, that the Greek parliament decided to build a mosque in Attic Päania in the run-up to the 2004 Summer Olympics , which no longer took place due to citizen protests and the resistance of the Orthodox Church. Jerome II , the current Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece , has concerns that the mosque could develop into a refuge for fundamentalists.

In the meantime, however, five tenders have been issued for the project since 2013. In 2015 the Greek parliament decided to build it again, with the ruling party SYRIZA , the New Democracy , the Communist Party of Greece , the To Potami party and the Union of Centrists in favor, the coalition partner ANEL and the right-wing “ Golden Dawn ” voting against to have. The contract was signed by Transport Minister Christos Spirzis .

construction

The construction of the mosque in one of the two capitals (besides Bratislava) of the European Union without a mosque to date has a symbolic meaning, as almost 200,000 Muslims live in the Athens area (mainly Albanians in Greece ), and the new mosque for almost 300 people is designed. The project is also seen as a rapprochement with Turkey.

The metal building will face Mecca and will be around 1,000 square meters. The land for this was made available by the Greek Navy and covers an area of ​​1.7 hectares. Four of the largest construction companies in Greece - J & P-Avax, Terna, Aktor and Intrakat - are involved in the construction of the mosque. A dome and a minaret will be dispensed with, the size will correspond to that of a parish church. The budget amounts to just under 887,000 euros, which is raised from national resources.

The building will house the imam's and muezzin's office , men's and women's toilets, prayer areas for men and women, and changing rooms.

swell

Coordinates: 37 ° 59 ′ 11 ″  N , 23 ° 42 ′ 0 ″  E