Resilience embodied: Historic Moscow mosque reopens

MOSCOW (MNTV) — Moscow’s Historical Mosque, the city’s oldest Muslim house of worship and a symbol of Islam’s presence dating back to the era of the Russian Empire, has reopened after an extensive restoration that preserved its architectural heritage while adapting it for contemporary use.

The mosque, nearly 200 years old, was originally known as the Cathedral Mosque until 1904, when it was renamed following the construction of a larger mosque elsewhere in the capital.

It stands in the Zamoskvorechye district, within the historic Tatar Settlement, an area with roots dating to the 14th century when Tatar merchants first established a permanent presence in Moscow.

“The mosque is the oldest Muslim place of worship in Moscow,” said Mufti Ravil Gaynutdin, chairman of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation, at the reopening ceremony.

He noted that the surrounding Tatar community has been an integral part of the city’s history for centuries, contributing to Moscow’s commercial, cultural, and religious diversity.

The first stone building on the site was erected in the early 19th century with funds from merchant Nazarbay Khoshalov, who purchased the land on Bolshaya Tatarskaya Street specifically for the Muslim community.

Permission for construction was granted by the city’s governor-general after the devastating 1812 fire that destroyed much of Moscow, but under strict conditions that reflected the imperial government’s sensitivity about non-Orthodox religious architecture.

City authorities at the time required that the building not resemble a traditional mosque and explicitly forbade the construction of a minaret. As a result, the structure was built as a modest, single-story stone building that was deliberately indistinguishable from neighboring houses to avoid drawing attention.

That changed during the reign of Tsar Alexander II, whose more liberal policies toward religious minorities later allowed the addition of a dome and minaret, transforming the structure into a recognizable place of Islamic worship.

The redesign was carried out by architect Dmitry Pevnickiy, a well-regarded Moscow architect who also worked on Orthodox churches and civic buildings throughout the city.

After reconstruction, the mosque’s prayer hall could accommodate approximately 1,500 worshippers, making it a significant center for Moscow’s Muslim community.

The expansion was financed by prominent Tatar merchant and philanthropist Salikh Yerzin, who made his fortune trading cotton from Bukhara and became one of Moscow’s most respected business figures.

Yerzin was known for wide-ranging charitable work benefiting both Muslim and Orthodox Christian communities, embodying the interfaith cooperation that characterized much of pre-revolutionary Moscow.

In 1915, he also funded the construction of a religious school, or madrasah, next to the mosque to ensure the continuation of Islamic education in the capital.

The mosque’s leadership included several prominent religious figures who left lasting marks on Moscow’s Muslim community.

One of its best-known imams, Khayretdin Ageyev, was a remarkable linguist who spoke eight languages, translated important Arabic texts into Russian, and served as a translator at the Kremlin Armory, bridging Islamic and Russian Orthodox cultures. He was later granted honorary citizenship of Moscow in recognition of his contributions.

The last imam before the mosque’s closure during Soviet rule, Abdulla Shamsutdinov, was arrested in 1936 during Stalin-era purges and executed on what scholars say were fabricated charges typical of the period’s religious persecution.

His wife also died in prison.

The mosque was shut down, and its religious function ended for decades as the Soviet state pursued aggressive atheist policies.

During and after World War II, the building was repurposed for civil defense and paramilitary organizations.

In 1967, amid an official campaign against religion under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, its minarets were demolished in an act of deliberate erasure. In later Soviet years, it housed a printing workshop, with its religious origins largely forgotten by most Muscovites.

The decision to return the building to the Muslim community was made in 1990 as the Soviet Union began to collapse and religious freedoms were gradually restored.

Despite initial opposition from some residents and occupants who had been using the space, the mosque was formally restored to religious use by 1991, marking a new chapter in Moscow’s religious life.

Scholars say the reopening underscores Russia’s complex religious and cultural identity in the post-Soviet era.

“Russia positions itself as part of Christian civilization while also emphasizing its Islamic heritage,” said Yuri Mavashev, a Moscow-based analyst.

“Historically, Tatars were the main bearers of Islamic tradition in Russia, and cooperation between Orthodox Christians and Muslims helped shape the country as it exists today.”

The restored mosque now stands once again as both a functioning place of worship and a reminder of Moscow’s long-standing Muslim community, representing centuries of coexistence and the resilience of religious traditions through periods of both tolerance and repression.