The mountain peaks of the Greater Caucasus Range, the tamed Terek River at their foot, and between them — the delicate and airy Sunni Mosque, one of the symbols of Vladikavkaz. Its rare beauty reminds one of eternity… “Those who believe and do good deeds, Allah will admit them to the gardens of Paradise,” promises the inscription on the right minaret.

Construction of the mosque began in 1900, after a long correspondence between the parishioners of the Muslim community and officials of various ranks. Obtaining permission to allocate the land plot and start work was not easy. And finding funds for construction was even more difficult. Here lie the first two mysteries, of which there are many in the history of the Sunni Mosque: “Who paid for everything and who built it?”

According to the first version, the “Tatar” one, as local historians call it, only the Tatars and 15 Kumyk families responded to the call to collect money. Many sold property and mortgaged their homes. The Mufti of the Al-Sofia Mosque in Istanbul provided the building project, gifted a Quran in a leather gilded binding, and sent his architect. Two years after construction began, both minarets and the dome were erected, but the crescent poles and Quranic inscriptions on the walls were not gilded. Funds were insufficient. Then a Tatar delegation went to the Baku millionaire Murtuza Mukhtarov. He promised to pay for the work but wished to name the mosque after his wife, the Orthodox Liza Tuganova, a condition the Tatars could not accept…

However, a special report by the North Ossetian Center for Social Research states: “Experts from the Institute of Architecture and Art of the Russian Academy of Sciences established that the building was constructed by a Russian architect of Polish origin, Iosif Ploshko, who was the author of the project. He made this project on behalf of Murtuza Mukhtarov, with whom he had collaborated repeatedly. The building was conceived in an Arab style, reminiscent of the Cairo mosques of the 10th–12th centuries and even the famous Al-Azhar.” According to this version, the oil industrialist Mukhtarov bore most of the expenses. He contributed more than 50 thousand rubles. As the newspaper “Priazovsky Krai” reported in the year the mosque opened: “Its construction cost 80 thousand.”

The building is made of white limestone brought from the vicinity of Baku, faced with red bricks manufactured at the Shteingel factory. In 1906, construction work was completed, and for another two years, craftsmen decorated the mosque under the guidance of Franz Dolezhal. The content of the inscriptions, of which there are more than 300, mainly glorifies Allah. The gilded Quranic quotes are executed in Arabic calligraphy. And another mystery posed by Doctor of Historical Sciences Henry Kusov: “Why does the rich ornamental decoration of this Islamic monument abundantly feature the six-pointed Star of David?”

During Soviet times, this unusual detail was ignored, but when the mosque became active again, Muslim theologians raised questions. Rumors spread that the star, or “Shield of David,” appeared after restoration in the late 1960s. The work was carried out by specialists from Leningrad, some of whom were Jewish. But, as Henry Kusov writes: “Such a suggestion of sabotage can easily be dismissed once one looks at old photographs. The only puzzling thing was that a devout Muslim Mukhtarov and the mullahs conducting services in the mosque before the revolution tolerated such a symbol… It would be interesting to know who initiated the creation of this geometric ornament, whether it represents abstract forms or stylizes real motifs… But the main thing we already know — the Sunni Mosque may turn out to be the only monument of the Abrahamic religions in Russia!”

The mosque miraculously survived after the revolution. In 1934, the city council decided to demolish the building. But the cavalrymen of the Tatar company stood up to defend it with weapons in hand. The new authorities had no choice but to concede and grant the mosque the status of an architectural monument. During Soviet times, it housed in turn a House of Culture, a workers’ club, an anti-religious museum, and a local history museum. Under the dome, a Foucault pendulum was hung — to demonstrate the Earth’s daily rotation and as anti-religious propaganda. By the way, another mystery — the pendulum disappeared without a trace, and now no one can say where it is.

Since 1996, the Sunni Mosque has been active again; it is a cathedral mosque where Muslims gather for collective prayer at noon on Fridays. Tourists from the balconies of the neighboring hotel never tire of photographing the most recognizable view of Vladikavkaz — the slender silhouette of the mosque against the majestic Table Mountain.

Sources:

https://www.culture.ru/institutes/4713/sunnitskaya-mechet