Kronverksky Ave, 7, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 197046
Already in the early years of Saint Petersburg’s existence, a Tatar settlement arose near the Peter and Paul Fortress. In 1798, more than five hundred Muslim servicemen submitted a petition requesting a prayer house and a plot of land for a cemetery. During the reign of Empress Catherine the Great, Muslims in the city enjoyed special favor from the authorities. They were granted numerous privileges, allowed to trade throughout the entire country and beyond. Moreover, the Muslim community of Saint Petersburg was entrusted with a mediating mission, establishing relations with Turkestan and Xinjiang. In 1803–1804, mosque projects were commissioned by the military department in Saint Petersburg, designed by architects Andrey Voronikhin and Luigi Rusca. Both projects remained unrealized. Prayer rooms were allocated in barracks. In 1862, officials refused the military guard akhun Muhammad-Ali Khantemirov permission to start collecting funds for the construction of a stone mosque with a minaret in Petersburg. According to the 1869 civil population census, out of 1,700 Muslims permanently residing in Petersburg, 1,585 were Tatars. In 1881, both Russian capitals were honored with a visit from the son of the Emir of Bukhara in connection with the coronation of Alexander III. By the beginning of the 20th century, about 8,000 Muslims lived in the city, but there was not a single mosque. The official request for mosque construction was sent by the head Muslim mufti Tevkelev to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Count Dmitry Andreyevich Tolstoy, back in the 1880s. Consent was obtained, but there were no funds for construction. On November 5, 1905, the Committee for the Construction of the Cathedral Mosque in Saint Petersburg was organized. It was approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs P. G. Stolypin in January 1906. The committee consisted of 20 Muslims, state and public figures, and merchants. Its organizer was the writer and publicist Akhun Bayazitov, and the chairmanship was given to Colonel Abdul-Aziz Davletshin.
The Spiritual Assembly closely monitored the fundraising. For example, it recommended Bayazitov transfer the collected funds from a private banking office to a branch of the State Bank, as was customary with the off-budget funds of the Spiritual Assembly. Thanks to this, in areas where State Bank branches existed, the collection of donations became more orderly.
The largest contribution was made by the Emir of Bukhara, Said-Abdulla-Ahad Khan, who paid for the land plot. The committee was granted the right to collect funds amounting to 750,000 rubles over 10 years throughout the Russian Empire. For this purpose, lottery tickets were issued and postcards with design views of the mosque were printed. The largest contribution was made by the Emir of Bukhara, Said-Abdulla-Ahad Khan, who paid 321,000 rubles for the land plot. He also donated 500,000 rubles for construction and organized fundraising among wealthy merchants of the emirate. For the mosque’s construction, the committee purchased a plot at the corner of Kronverksky Prospect and Konnaya Lane (house No. 7), which belonged to engineer I. Dolotsky. However, this was not enough. The mihrab (the sacred niche before which worshippers stand) had to face south, towards Mecca, which in this case was directly towards the facade of the house on the neighboring plot. This house was also bought on November 17, 1907. It housed ablution rooms, which must be used before entering the mosque. The building also accommodated the architects’ workshops, the construction office, and the committee’s reception. The remaining rooms were rented out, with the income going towards the mosque’s construction. Under the patronage of the emir, an architectural competition was held. The recommendations for this competition were developed by Akhun Bayazitov. It was required to build a two-tier mosque, with a choir, strict interior decoration, and an additional basement room to accommodate worshippers during annual Muslim holidays.
The results of the competition were summed up on March 11, 1908. A total of 45 projects were reviewed.
Vasilyev’s project was recommended by the judging commission for construction. Vasilyev proposed to take the Gur-Emir mausoleum in Samarkand as a model, which was ultimately realized. During the work, the architect involved his colleagues von Hogen and Krichinsky as co-authors. At that time, Hogen had great authority in government circles, which helped resolve many administrative and economic issues. Krichinsky was a member of the Muslim community, which was very important for the construction committee. He also built the house of the Emir of Bukhara on Kamennoostrovsky Prospect. According to legend, an underground passage was laid from that house to the mosque. Later, this architect supervised the finishing works of the temple building.
According to legend, an underground passage was laid from the house of the Emir of Bukhara on Kamennoostrovsky Prospect to the mosque. The mosque project and the application for permission to start work were submitted by von Hogen to the city administration on December 14, 1908. On April 3, 1909, Krichinsky was issued a certificate to carry out preparatory work and install a fence. At the same time, the project was sent for examination to the Academy of Arts. Overall, it was approved but received objections regarding the chosen location for the mosque. The disagreement was justified by the fact that the Muslim temple was located near the Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral and Peter I’s house, which violated the historical integrity of the center of Saint Petersburg. However, Stolypin, while generally agreeing with the arguments of the Academy of Arts, considered that it would be impractical to revoke the construction permit.
The solemn laying of the temple took place at 11 o’clock on February 3, 1910. It was timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the reign of the Emir of Bukhara and his visit to Saint Petersburg. According to the tradition of those years, a special silver plaque with an engraved commemorative text was ordered for the laying: “On February 3, 1910, in the presence of General-Adjutant Sheikh Abdul-Ahad Khan, Emir of Bukhara, and other honored guests, this mosque was laid on land donated to the Muslims of St. Petersburg by His Highness the Emir. May the believers praise the Almighty for the health of the main donor and all those who contributed with monetary donations or personal labor to the erection of this mosque.” In August 1911, N. V. Vasilyev drew up a project for the ablution house. In September, permission for construction was obtained, the wooden wing was dismantled, and by autumn 1913 a new building appeared in its place.
The first service in the mosque took place in February 1913, timed to the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.
The Saint Petersburg Cathedral Mosque became the northernmost mosque in the world. For a long time, it remained the largest. Its facade, although corresponding to all the canons of sacred architecture of Central Asia, has features of Northern Art Nouveau. The building is clad in gray granite. The mosque’s dome repeats the silhouette of the dome of the Gur-Emir mausoleum in Samarkand. The mosque is heated by steam, with electric ventilation and lighting. Masters from the village of Kikery near Gatchina, close to Petersburg, worked on the mosaic decoration of the portal, dome, and minarets. This is where the workshops of the Artistic Ceramic Production “Heldwein – Vaulin” were located.
The unique majolica of the temple was created by ceramic artist Pyotr Kuzmich Vaulin, grandfather of the famous Petersburg composer Andrey Petrov. In addition to Russian ceramists, Uzbek masters were involved in the work. The sketches of the medallions for the building’s facade were made by Crimean Tatar Ilyas Murza Boragansky, a well-known publisher and lecturer at the Faculty of Oriental Languages of the Imperial Petersburg University, owner of the “First Specialized Artistic and Artistic Electroprint.” Calligrapher Osman Akchokrakly was also involved. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the construction of the mosque slowed down, the inflow of funds decreased, and many builders were mobilized. Finishing work in the temple continued until 1918, and only from 1920 did regular services begin. In the late 1930s, the temple was closed and turned into a warehouse.
In 1956, the mosque building was handed over to the Muslim Religious Society, and restoration began. In 1968, the temple was granted the status of an architectural monument. During the mosque’s restoration, its dome was for the first time in the world clad not with ceramics but with more durable porcelain. Currently, the first floor houses a large main hall where men pray. The second floor is reserved for women. The third floor houses a Sunday madrasa school where lessons in Arabic and Tatar languages and the basics of Islam are taught.
Sources:
https://antennadaily.ru/2019/04/06/mosque-petersburg/
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Санкт-Петербургская_соборная_мечеть
