Surprisingly, there are more than 160 mosques and places of worship in Ukraine. There are also 90 Muslim Sunday schools and 7 theological universities. About ten mosques are architectural monuments. And this article is about the most interesting ones.
- Ar-Rahma is the first mosque in Kyiv, which belongs to the Islamic complex, along with the minaret, madrasa, and educational building. It is located on the slope of Schekavytsia on Tatarka. There might be inside as many as 2 thousand people in 3 halls at the same time. The height of the minaret is 27 m. The city authorities allocated a place for the building in 1996. It is interesting to know that the first thoughts about building the mosques in Kyiv were as long as in the 19th century. However, it was just in the year 2000 that the first building works were completed. A crescent moon was immediately installed on the dome, and it began to be the worship place straight away. In 2004, authorities allocated another place to expand the Islamic complex. The final opening of the Ar-Rahma Cathedral Mosque took place in December 2011.
- Kharkiv Cathedral Mosque was built back in 1906. In 1936, Soviet authorities completely destroyed it, but in 2006 it was restored. But at the end of the 19th century, there was a fairly strong Muslim community in Kharkiv, because a Tatar-Bashkir cavalry detachment was established in the city. The opening of the mosque took place just before Ramadan, but later the Soviet authorities demolished it to the ground, by stating that they were improving the riverbed. The rest of the buildings were turned into residential buildings. The first changes began in 1991 when the Charter of the Muslim Community was registered in Kharkiv. In 1999, restoration work began, and in 2000, a new pit was dug. The former building had a lightning rod, and the ceiling with a minaret was solid reinforced concrete. Those elements were preserved in the new project. Besides, there was built another minaret.
- Al-Barok is a Kharkiv mosque in a typical oriental style with separate prayer halls, educational programs, and leisure facilities. The decoration uses a lot of glass, wood, and clay, and the rooms are decorated with colorful mosaics.
- Mariupol Mosque is one of the most luxurious mosques in Ukraine. It is located in the Primorsky District with the Islamic Center named after Suleiman the Magnificent and Roksolana. The opening took place in October 2007. The architectural project is similar to the one which is in Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul.
- The Arab Cultural Center in Odessa was built in 2001 with the active participation of a Syrian patron. The townspeople took the project with great interest, which is not surprising because once there was a Tatar settlement Hadzhibey with a Turkish fortress on the territory of the city. The Soviet government radically opposed Muslim culture, so the Odesa society was officially registered only in 1992. In the mosque of the Arab Cultural Center, sermons are held in Arabic. Also, courses and excursions are held here.
- Poltava City Mosque was built in 2000, and the Muslim community in the city was registered in 1998. Here you can learn Arabic, read the Koran, register marriages according to Muslim customs. And in 2002, the construction of a Muslim cemetery was completed.
- Novooleksiyivska mosque was built in 2002 in Novooleksiyivka, Kherson region. It is also called Aji Belal Jami or Juma Jami. There is a library and classrooms.
