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Algeria’s Grand Mosque, the third largest in the world after the holiest sites in Makkah and Madinah and the largest in Africa, was launched on the occasion of Mawlid of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The opening ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Andelaziz Djerad and other government officials.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was scheduled to inaugurate the prayer hall, which can serve a maximum of 120,000, he could however not attend due to his poor health as he was admitted to hospital a day before.
State media did not specify if the President tested positive for COVID-19, his condition was reported as stable.
Known locally as Djamaa El Djazair, it is to be open for its first public prayers next week, a year and a half after its construction was completed.
The mosque is described as being both modernist in design, with an Andalusian interior, and boasts with the world’s tallest minaret at 267 metres, towering over the previous tallest minaret in neighbouring Morocco’s Casablanca. The minaret is said to be fixed with elevators and viewing platforms that overlook the capital and Bay of Algiers.
