100 Years of the Grand Mosque of Paris: A House Between Prayer and Culture

Paris – 14.07.2026: One day before the centenary of its inauguration, the Grand Mosque of Paris is bringing its own history into the spotlight. The newly published volume “The Grand Mosque of Paris: Perspectives on 100 Years in 100 Events” traces a building that has become at once a place of prayer, a site of remembrance and a cultural meeting place. Its chronicle extends far beyond its ornate courtyards and the scent of tea.

The building was constructed after the First World War, also as a sign of remembrance for Muslim soldiers who had died for France. A law of 19 August 1920 made the exceptional state funding possible. The foundation stone was laid on 19 October 1922. Four years later, on 15 July 1926, the building near the Jardin des Plantes was ceremonially inaugurated.

From the outset, the Moorish-Andalusian architecture was more than a decorative backdrop. The minaret, the zellij tiles and the quiet garden paths created a place in the heart of the Latin Quarter that made other aesthetic and spiritual traditions visible. The mosque was thus also a reflection of the contradictions of the era in which it was created: a republican act of remembrance that remained inseparably linked to France’s colonial history.

The new anniversary volume, edited by Rector Chems-eddine Hafiz and featuring a foreword by Stéphane Bern, arranges these hundred years into one hundred key milestones. It seeks to treat the institution not merely as a monument, but as a living actor. This is precisely where its cultural-historical point lies: the mosque emerges as a place of faith, but also as a house of learning, dialogue and artistic mediation.

Today, this cultural life includes language classes, contemporary exhibitions, a literary prize, a short-film festival and events held as part of Paris’s cultural night Nuit Blanche. An exhibition on the history of Arabic calligraphy has also been announced for the summer. It is scheduled to run from 16 July to 24 September 2026 and will accompany an international competition for Arabic calligraphy being held for the first time.

That a mosque also hosts exhibitions, books and films is not an after-the-fact embellishment of its religious activities. It is part of the idea behind the place. Between the prayer hall and the patio, calligraphic art and urban history, it becomes apparent how culture can foster understanding without smoothing over differences. A century after its inauguration, the Grand Mosque of Paris therefore remains a distinctive space of resonance in contemporary France.

The anniversary also follows on from the celebrations marking the centenary of the foundation stone being laid in October 2022. Now the focus shifts from the symbolic gesture of beginning construction to the building’s long history of use. The Grand Mosque of Paris is celebrating not only its age, but the resilience of an institution whose cultural significance is renegotiated with every generation.