31 July 2010, 11:00
Mosque opened in Sochi after reconstruction
On July 30, a mosque restored on public donations, was opened in aul Tkhagapsh, Lazarevskoe District of Sochi, as reported by Tatiana Katanidi, specialist of the department for interaction with law enforcement bodies and public organizations of the administration of Sochi.
"The mosque was built in the end of the 19th century and functioned till 1930s. It is the only one in the Black Sea shore that survived during the anti-religion campaign in the USSR, and is, undoubtedly, of historical value," she emphasized.
In the 1930s the wooden mosque was closed and used as a warehouse for a long time. In 1993 the building re-acquired the status of a religious building, but praying there was impossible.
According to Ms Katanidi, some 12,000 Moslems now live in Sochi. The reconstructed mosque is located in the compact residence of the Black-Sea Adygs-Shapsugs, the indigenous population of the Lazarevskoe District of Sochi, the RIA "Novosti" reports.
The Society of Moslems "Yasin" has been striving for building a mosque in Sochi for more than 12 years already. In June, the authorities of the city supported the idea.
See earlier report: "Erection of a mosque for Moslems of Krasnodar and Sochi is again debated in SFD".
