Grande Mosquée de Paris

Grande Mosquée de Paris is in Paris, Île-de-France, France and is france’s best-known historic mosque, inaugurated in 1926 as a major national Islamic religious and cultural institution.. Construction of the Grande Mosquée de Paris began in 1922, and the mosque was inaugurated on 15 July 1926 in the presence of French and Muslim dignitaries, including President Gaston Doumergue.

The institution’s official history presents the project partly as national recognition of Muslim soldiers who fought and died for France during the First World War. It has since served religious, educational and cultural functions in the capital. Architecturally, the site is principally Hispano-Moorish / Maghrebi-inspired.

Religious life or devotional practice associated with the site includes Daily Muslim prayer and Friday congregational prayer. The mosque combines worship with educational and cultural functions and is one of the defining Islamic institutions of modern Paris. Its Hispano-Moorish and Maghrebi-inspired design gave the new complex a distinctive religious identity while its foundation history linked the project to the public memory of Muslim service in the First World War.