Algeria on Sunday inaugurated Africa’s largest Mosque on its Mediterranean coastline after years of political upheaval and delays over funds and cost overruns.
The gigantic worship centre, which is the third largest in the world, was constructed by a Chinese construction firm throughout the 2010s.
Known as the Great Mosque of Algiers, the edifice features the world’s tallest minaret measuring at 869 feet (265 meters) and is the third largest mosque in the world outside Islam’s holiest cities.
The prayer room accommodates 120,000 people while the modernist design contains Arab and North African flourishes to honor Algerian tradition and culture as well as a helicopter landing pad and a library that can house up to one million books.
The General Secretary of World Union of Muslim Ulemas, Ali Mohamed Salabi who spoke at the inauguration, “the Mosque would guide Muslims toward goodness and moderation.”
Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune who inaugurated the mosque, said it was in fulfilment of his promise to open it with great pomp and circumstance.
Before the official inauguration, the Mosque had been open to international tourists and state visitors to Algeria for roughly five years.
The timing of the opening also allows the Mosque to officially open to the public in time to host nightly prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next month.
The Mosque was originally a project of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who designed it to be the largest in Africa at a cost of $898 million
Local media said at the time that Bouteflika wanted it to be his legacy and called “Abdelaziz Bouteflika Mosque” much like Mosque Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco named after the former King of Morocco, Algeria’s neighbour and regional rival, which was once touted as Africa’s largest Mosque.