The mosque Nur-Astana, which opened in the capital of Kazakhstan on March 22, 2005, is quite young, but now it is an undeniable value for the country and one of its most important architectural sights. Nur-Astana is the second largest mosque in Central Asia after the Khazret Sultan mosque and elegant decoration of the city.
Against the backdrop of modern buildings surrounding it, a white mosque in oriental style, reflecting the bright sun with the gold of a huge dome, looks so slender and graceful, as if descending From the sky or descended on the streets of the city from the pages of the eastern fairy tale. At the same time, there is no dissonance - the beautiful and majestic building of the mosque is surprisingly in harmony with the buildings of the city of the future.
The dimensions of the mosque are truly astounding: it occupies almost 4 thousand square meters. m and stretches its four side minarets to a height of 63 m, and between them the main dome is 40 m high. All these numbers are not accidental: Allah, the 40-year-old Prophet Muhammad, first appeared for the first time, and his whole earthly life lasted 63 years. Eight supports, on which are excerpts of texts from the Koran - surah - support the main dome of the mosque. A wide courtyard with a large fountain is located in front of the mosque
Nur- Astana was designed by the Lebanese master of architecture Charles Hafiza, and was built by the Turkish company Pasiner with financial support from the state of Qatar. The main room of the mosque is the big hall, which in Nur-Astana holds about 5 thousand people gathered for prayer
According to tradition, in the big hall there are no images except patterned figures covering the walls. In the wall facing Mecca, there is a hollow niche (mihrab), and on the right side of the mihrab is the pulpit (minbar), behind which stands the imam during the sermon. On the second floor of the mosque, a special balcony is made, on which women pray - its capacity is about two thousand people.
In the mosque of Nur-Astana, one of the most unique rarities, presented to it by the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is a fragment of Kiswa, the shrine of the Kaaba from black silk, embroidered with gold threads, plus the Holy Quran from the printing house of the ruler of Saudi Arabia.
How to get to
Address: Kazakhstan, Astana, ul. Kabanbai Batyra, 36.
Phone: +7 (7172) 44-61-65
From the station to the mosque, you can take buses of routes No. 10, 12, 21, 27, 40 and 46.