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Algeria’s president on Sunday officially inaugurated the world’s third largest mosque in the North African capital, Algiers.
The vast mosque, which can accommodate 120,000 worshipers, first opened for prayers in October 2020. [Getty]
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday officially inaugurated Algiers’ Grand Mosque, the third in the world and the largest in Africa.
The vast mosque, which can accommodate 120,000 worshipers, first opened for prayers in October 2020, but Tebboune did not attend as he suffered from COVID-19.
Locally known as Djemaa el-Jazair (Algerian Mosque), this modernist structure spreads over 27.75 hectares (approximately 70 acres) and is the largest of two mosques in Islam’s holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia. It’s just smaller than .
It also boasts the world’s tallest minaret, at 267 meters (875 feet) high, with an elevator and an observation deck overlooking the capital and the Algiers Bay.
The interior of the mosque is decorated in Andalusian style with wood, marble, and alabaster.
To critics, the mosque is a vanity project of former dictator Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced to leave in April 2019 following massive street protests against his two decades of rule. .
This huge project cost more than $800 million and took seven years to construct.
Tebboune’s term officially expires at the end of this year, but the president, who was elected in December 2019, has not yet announced whether he intends to run for a second term.
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