Nizamiye Mosque

Completed in 2012 and funded by a Turkish businessman, the Nizamiye complex in Midrand is a scaled reproduction of the Selimiye Mosque at Edirne, Sinan's sixteenth-century masterpiece - about eighty percent of the original's size, with a central dome around thirty-one metres high and twenty-four across and four minarets rising some fifty-five metres. Turkish craftsmen did the tilework, calligraphy and stone carving, and materials were shipped from Turkey. It is generally described as the largest mosque in the southern hemisphere. The complex is not only a mosque: it includes a school, a clinic and a shopping row with a Turkish restaurant and bakery, and it was conceived as a community centre rather than a monument. Visitors of any faith are welcomed outside prayer times, with guided explanation offered, headscarves lent to women, and shoes removed at the door.

History

The Turkish businessman Ali Katırcıoğlu wanted to build Ottoman-style architecture where there was none; after failing to find a site in the United States, he brought the project to South Africa. The plans were drawn in Turkey and adapted to South African building standards by a local architect; work began on 1 October 2009, and the mosque was inaugurated on 4 October 2012. Its name recalls the Nizamiyya, the 11th-century colleges founded by the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk (Wikipedia, Nizamiye Mosque).

Highlights

• The Edirne copy - a scaled reproduction of Sinan's sixteenth-century Selimiye Mosque.
• The Turkish craftwork - tiles, calligraphy and carving executed by craftsmen from Turkey.
• The 31-metre dome - the central span with four minarets around it.
• The complex - school, clinic and Turkish bakery alongside the mosque.

When to go

All year, outside the five prayer times. One to two hours.

Things to know

It is a working mosque - dress modestly, remove shoes, and avoid prayer times. Women are asked to cover their hair and scarves are provided. Photography rules apply inside. It is a 2012 building, not a historic one, which some visitors do not expect.

Nearby

Midrand sits between Johannesburg and Pretoria on the N1.

Key facts