Africa's Largest Mosques

By Motunrayo Shafau

Places of worship are quite awe-inspiring. With great architecture and positioning, many tourists are quite drawn to certain destinations mainly to get a feel of the monumental place of worship located there. Think Taj Mahal or Vatican City - these places attract throngs of tourists and travellers. In the spirit of Ramadan and all that it stands for, Jovago.com brings you this amazing list of the largest mosques in Africa whose history often date back to prehistoric times, these mosques aren’t mere buildings but hold much more value and relevance.

Al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo
Built in the prehistoric times, this mosque covers about 85,000 sq ft. Its name translates to mean ‘the mosque of the most resplendent’, this is reminiscent of its beauty and splendour. With a capacity of up to 20,000 people, this is definitely one of the largest of its type on the African continent. It continues to stand as symbolic of Islamic Cairo .

Conakry Grand Mosque
Built in 1982, this grand mosque definitely lives up to its name. It is regarded to as the 4th largest mosque in Africa and the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Within its walls and premises, the mosque could accommodate more 20,000 worshipers. The mosque also incorporates a Camayanne Mausoleum which houses some prominent citizens like Samure Ture and Sékou Turé amongst others.

Emir Abdelkader Mosque, Constantine
Since 1994, Algeria has been home to this historic mosque. Its architectural style is pristine in execution. Not only is it breathtaking from the outside, the interior could make a believer out of an atheist. It could accommodate up to 15,000 worshipers.

Ghaddafi National Mosque, Kampala
Relatively new in comparison to the others, this religious edifice located on the Kampala Hill was completed in 2006. In fact, it was commissioned by the deceased but legendary Libyan president Muammar Ghaddafi as a gift to the Ugandan country and also one to advance the cause of the muslim population. It is now referred to as the Ugandan National Mosque.

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca
Since 1993, Greater Casablanca, Morocco has been home to this 970,000sq ft mosque. It is outrightly the largest mosque in Morocco and Africa! It ranks as 7th in world rating. With the tallest minaret, it looks out onto the Atlantic Ocean. Over a 100,000 worshipers can be gathered within its walls and premises!

Juma Masjid Mosque, Durban
Dating back to 1881, it was the first of kind to be built in Durban. With its eight minarets, this mosque is capable of accommodating up to 6,000 worshipers. It is renowned as the oldest and largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

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