The leading mosque of the Kazan Khanate was destroyed in 1552, and rebuilt more than four and a half centuries later.
This is Kul Sharif Mosque, inside the Kazan Kremlin, in Tatarstan, Russia.
The first Kul Sharif Mosque was named for a scholar and poet. Accounts say he died with his students defending Kazan in 1552, when Russian forces under Ivan the Terrible took the city. Legend says the old mosque had eight minarets.
In 1996, work began on a new mosque inside the Kremlin. Donations from residents, companies and Muslim countries helped pay for it. It opened on 24 June 2005, in the year Kazan celebrated its thousandth anniversary.
Its plan is an octagon, formed by two squares turned against each other. Eight pointed arches shape its white marble walls.
Four main minarets, about fifty-five metres tall, stand at its corners. The turquoise dome is thirty-six metres high, with tulip-shaped windows, a Tatar motif said to stand for rebirth.
Inside, the names of Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, and verses of the Quran are inscribed. A crystal chandelier from the Czech Republic hangs in the prayer hall. At Eid, thousands pray in the courtyard.
Downstairs, a Museum of Islamic Culture tells the story of Islam in Russia and Tatarstan.
UNESCO listed the Kazan Kremlin in 2000 for its blend of Tatar and Russian architecture.
