Moscow Cathedral Mosque

The mosque’s official museum describes it as the biggest mosque in Moscow and a mosque that can be regarded as the main mosque in Russia. It also operates a Museum of Islam for visitors. The Moscow Cathedral Mosque has been open since 1904.

The modern enlarged building was opened in 2015 after a major rebuilding project. The mosque’s official museum states that a Moscow Cathedral Mosque has operated on this site since 1904 and that the enlarged present building opened in 2015. It is an active Muslim place of worship as well as a major institution for Moscow’s Muslim community.

The attached Museum of Islam interprets Islamic belief, architecture and the history of Muslims in Moscow. The official visitor rules require appropriate dress and removal of shoes in mosque areas, and they restrict photography of guides and other people. Those requirements are practical expressions of the building’s primary religious function.

Historical descriptions should distinguish the continuity of the mosque institution from the fact that the current large structure is a modern reconstruction and expansion.