Select members of the eCool team made a recent foray to Rome’s central mosque, located just a few stops on the train to the north of the city, on the slopes of Monte Antenne, near the Tiber River. There were parts of the complex that we quite loved, so we thought we’d share some photos with you today.
The mosque project began in the 1970s, when the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia complained to Italian officials about the lack of a mosque in Rome and offered to finance the construction of a Muslim place of worship. Rome’s city officials took the king up on his offer and found a large plot of land that suited the purpose and that also satisfied the Vatican’s requirements that the mosque not be visible from St. Peter’s Basilica and that the minaret not rise higher in elevation than the dome of St. Peter’s.
Paolo Portoghesi was appointed chief architect of the project and almost spent two decades working on the building before it was dedicated in 1995.
In an effort to make the complex seem like a continuous part of Rome’s historic urban fabric, Portoghesi used traditional materials like travertine and brick and even went so far as to design a Campidolgio-esque fountain that greets visitors upon arrival. (See top photo) We found that un-subtle reference to Michelangelo’s piazza on the Capitoline hill to be a bit-too-obvious of an attempt to achieve continuity between past and present and Christian and Muslim, but perhaps our judgment was biased by the fact that the water was off and the fountain seemed forlorn and empty.
What we loved were the intricately molded columns (they’re concrete) that look like trees and form inviting covered walkways through which Rome’s brilliant sun filters, creating interesting patterns. And the dome! Oh we loved the neo-baroque dome (also concrete) so clearly designed by a man who loves Borromini.
