A 30,000-capacity mosque, touted as the largest in West Africa, has been opened in Dakar, capital of Senegal. It is built at the cost of $33 million, by Mouride Brotherhood.With a Carrara marble exterior and boasting five minarets – the tallest 78 metres (255 feet) high – the mosque has a capacity of 15,000 worshippers inside, and another 15,000 on an outside esplanade.
The lavish interiors include a gold-leaf dome, giant chandeliers and decorations hand drawn by Moroccan workmen.
Work on the Massalikul Jinaan (‘The Paths to Paradise’) mosque was said to have began a decade ago on a swampy six-hectare (14-acre) site in the poor area of Bopp, on land donated by the government of the 90-percent Muslim nation.
The government provided additional 10.5 million euros for lighting, sanitation and road works, according to Infrastructure Minister Oumar Youm.
The mosque is smaller than Casablanca’s Hassan II, which is spread over nine hectares and can accommodate 105,000 worshippers and has a minaret spiraling 210 meters.
Another mosque being built in Algiers is sprawled over nine hectares with a 265-metre minaret. It will be able to accommodate 120,000 people.
