Great Mosque of Touba
| Grande Mosquée | |
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| Coordinates : 14 ° 51 '48 .5 " N , 15 ° 52' 29.5" W | |
| place | Touba |
| Laying of the foundation stone | 1932 |
| opening | 1963 |
| Direction / grouping | Islam |
| Architectural information | |
| Details | |
| capacity | 7,000 |
| Couple | 4th |
| Minarets | 5 |
| Minaret height | 86.80 m |
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| Website: http://www.mosqueetouba.org/ | |
The Great Mosque of Touba is the largest building in the city of Touba in the west of the West African state of Senegal and one of the largest mosques in Africa .
history
The marabout Amadou Bamba initiated the construction of this mosque in 1924, as it was here that he received his early revelation. The French administration did not authorize the project until 1926. After the death of Amadou Bamba in 1927 his eldest son Mamadou Moustapha Mbacké became the first General-Caliph, d. H. Successor to his father. Despite the very difficult national and international environment of the 1930s and World War II , which was shaped by the global economic crisis , he repeatedly advocated the project of building mosques. The colonial administration tried to thwart the project by imposing the most stringent conditions. Muhammadu Moustapha wrested a lease for 400 hectares from the administration. After overcoming many obstacles, the foundation stone for the mosque was laid on March 4, 1932. One of the major obstacles was the unavailability of materials and transport capacity to Diourbel , where the train stopped. - Finally, on Friday June 7th, 1963, the mosque was inaugurated by Mouhammadou Falilou M'Backé.
architecture
The mosque has minarets at its four corners, each 66 meters high. A fifth, 86.80 meter high minaret stands in the middle of the building and towers above the large domes and the outer minarets. In 2013, Caliph Sidy Mbacke Mukhtar added two more minarets. These minarets can be seen up to 10 km from Touba. The mosque has six large doors. The main entrance is on the east, one door on the west and two on each side. Inside the mosque, one enters the mausoleum of Ahmadou Bamba, which was built on the northeast corner of the building, near the prayer hall. The grave has an extension of about 10 by 10 meters.
literature
- Bernard Marcel Paul Gérard: La mosquée de Touba. Expression du mouridisme . In: Mémoire de l'École nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer, n ° 18, 1955
- Eric Ross: Touba: A Spiritual Metropolis in the Modern World. In: Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, Vol. 29, No. 2, 1995, pp. 222-259
Web links
- Touba on West Africa portal
- Great mosque in Touba (2004). In: Structurae