Who participated in the first prayer in the Cathedral Mosque of St. Petersburg?‌‌

Who participated in the first prayer in the Cathedral Mosque of St. Petersburg?‌‌

The mosque construction period and the first service in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty on February 21, 1913, in the presence of Bukhara Emir Said Mir Alim Khan and Khan Khiva Said Asfendiar Bogadur Khan who had just arrived in the Russian capital, became one of the most active events in the Muslim Charitable Society in St. Petersburg.

The society was established in March 1898. The handwritten documents preserved in the Scientific and Historical Archive of the Museum of the History of Religion give an idea of the composition of the Society as of March 1, 1907. The list of its honorary members included, along with the ruling Bukhara emir, the son of the emir and the son of Khiva Khan Said Mohammed Rahim Bagadur (1845 – 1910), whose photos are also presented in the “Photo Library” of the Museum and in this book-album. Emir Said Mir Alim Khan, who assumed the reign of the Bukhara Emirate and the responsibilities for guardianship over the Society’s activities in 1911, donated funds and established an office for the construction of a large commercial apartment building near the mosque on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt 44. 

The funds from renting out the apartments were to be used for the needs of the mosque and the community.

You can learn more about this topic in the book-album “The Collection of the State Museum of the History of Religion” (Volume XII) from the series “Cultural legacy of Uzbekistan in the world collections”.

The general sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.

Who participated in the first prayer in the Cathedral Mosque of St. Petersburg?‌‌