Friday, October 17, 2014

Ertugrul-Gazi-Mosque in Ashgabat



In Ashgabat I visited the Ertuğrul Gazi Mosque (correct spelling), also called Asadi Mosque, which had been inaugurated in 1998. The name reminds us of the Turkmenian clan chief Ertuğrul Gazi, who founded the Ottoman Empire and then called himseld Osman. The mosque has been build with an outside of white marble, which is corresponding to the rest of Ashgabat – all buildings have to show white marble on the outside, as the president wishes it to be so. It has four minarets and a prominent central dome. It has been designed after the example of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. 5000 worshippers would find space in the mosque, but you know how people are, as workers died during the construction, people think this calls for bad luck to the worshippers and therefore only few people are in the mosque. So much the better for a tourist like myself, as I don’t like disturbing worshipping people.




... and a detail of one of the minarets


Detail of the exterior


Detail of the courtyard


The mihrab, which indicates the qibla (direction of the Kaaba in Mecca) is on the right sight of the picture.



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