The Northernmost Mosque

When foreigners, and most Russians, think of St. Petersburg, many associations come to mind, but Muslim architecture is usually not one of them.

And yet, St. Petersburg boasts one of Europe’s largest and certainly one of its most beautiful mosques. Opened in 1913, amid celebrations to mark the 300th anniversary of Russia’s ruling Romanov dynasty, the unveiling ceremony was attended by many visiting dignitaries, among them the emir of Bukhara and the khan of Khiva.

The building itself, whose 48-meter-high minarets tower rises above a dome of blue ceramic tile, was modeled after the Gur-Emir mosque in Samarkand and built to comfortably hold up to 5,000 worshipers at a time.