The opening of Dr. Suat Günsel Mosque, which is the largest mosque in Cyprus with 62 domes and 6 minarets, will be held on Thursday, January 11. Representatives from many Muslim countries will also be present at the opening, which will bring together the state protocol of Turkey and the TRNC.
When the ones in Turkey are included, it is the 6th mosque with 6 minarets in the region and is the largest mosque in the TRNC. Dr. Suat Günsel Mosque will open its doors on Thursday, January 11. The opening ceremony, which will take place on the Near East University campus, will bring together representatives of many Muslim countries, especially Turkey and the TRNC. While the promotional film containing the final images of the mosque ready for the grand opening was met with great interest on social media, many people have been continuing to visit Dr. Suat Günsel Mosque before its opening.
Its foundations were laid in 2013 by the then Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Prof. Dr. Beşir Atalay and President of Religious Affairs Mehmet Görmez, and Dr. Suat Günsel Mosque was completed with a great effort that took 10 years. Built on an area of 30 thousand square meters, the mosque is the largest mosque in the TRNC with 62 domes and 6 minarets. It will allow 10 thousand people to worship at the same time. Dr. Suat Günsel Mosque is also the 6th mosque with 6 minarets in the region, along with the mosques in Turkey.
The most important trace left by the Turkish Cypriots on the island!
In terms of its architectural design, engineering and construction process, it was built entirely with the talents of Turkish Cypriots and materials from Cyprus, including the stained glass used, the chandeliers, the finials, the dome and interior decorations to the wood and stone workmanship. Dr. Suat Günsel Mosque will go down in history as the largest monumental work that the Turkish Cypriots brought to the island during the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Highlights of Dr. Suat Günsel Mosque
Domes and Minarets
It has 62 domes and 6 minarets. In Dr. Suat Günsel Mosque, the main dome has a height of 36.8 meters and a diameter of 23.8 meters. The main dome is surrounded by 61 domes of smaller diameters. There are 27 domes and 9 semi-domes in the mosque section. There are 26 domes in the portico section, too.
The mosque has six minarets, each of which is 76.2 meters high and has three balconies. The other two minarets, each 56.45 meters high, have two balconies.
The materials used in the domes and minarets, which have a gold-colored stainless steel and chrome coating, were determined by the Turkish Cypriot people through a survey.
Stained glass windows
Stained glass, designed and prepared by the artists of the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts in their own workshops, adorns the 104 windows of the mosque.
Realms
In the mosque, the dome and minaret finials are completely cast in aluminum and the largest one is 7 meters long. All castings were made in the workshops on the Near East University campus.
Chandeliers
There are 47 chandeliers in the mosque. The largest chandelier in the main dome has a diameter of approximately 8 meters. All of the chandeliers were designed by the artists of the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts and produced in their own workshops.
Dome and Interior Decorations
All of the dome and interior decorations of the mosque were completed with oil painting technique by the artists of the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts, with approximately one year of manual labor.
Wood and Stone Workmanship
The doors, pulpit and other furniture of the mosque, which attract attention with their detailed engravings, were designed and produced by Ikas Furniture, a subsidiary of the Near East Enterprises. As a result of the survey, the public decided to use white stone, unique to Cyprus, in the outer areas of the mosque. The stonemasonry was also carried out by Turkish Cypriot craftsmen.