Sights of Kyzylorda – Mosques of the city –
Aitbay Mosque is a monument of architectural art, the oldest mosque in the city of Kyzylorda. The area of the mosque is 22x16 m., the height is 14 m. The facade is a large portal decorated with baked ceramics, the door is decorated with carvings on four wrought-iron windows on both sides. The roof was covered with sheet metal, and the interior was plastered and whitewashed. In 1980, the Kazakh Institute of Design and Restoration Works developed a complete restoration and repair project of the mosque.
How to get there
Aitbay Mosque is located in the city of Kyzylorda, Kyzylorda region. GPS coordinates: 44°50'21"N 65°29'35"E
History, information
The Aitbay Mosque was built on the initiative of a merchant from Bukhara, Aitbay Baltabayev. He also largely financed the construction. Construction of the building began in 1875, and was completed three years later. The cost of construction at that time was 40,000 rubles. Due to increased persecution and repression of religious activities in the Soviet Union, the mosque was closed by the Bolsheviks in the mid-1920s. Since 1926, it has been used as a simple warehouse, after which it was used as housing for deportees. In the 1950s, the building was converted for use as a cinema before it housed a boarding school. From 1970 to 1981, there was a factory in the mosque building. In 1982, the mosque was included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of republican significance and placed under state protection. In 1990, the building was returned to its original purpose as a mosque. In the following years, it was restored, and the donated funds were used to finance the construction of the minaret. The mosque was renovated again in the 2000s.
Aitbay Mosque in the city of Kyzylorda
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