New Mosque Opens in French City of Saumur After Years of Construction
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\nA new mosque has officially opened in the western French city of Saumur after more than a decade of efforts by the local Muslim community to build a larger place of worship capable of accommodating the growing number of worshippers.<\/p>\n
Located in the Maine-et-Loire department of the Pays de la Loire region, the mosque began welcoming worshippers in August before its official inauguration ceremony, which was attended by local officials. The opening marks the completion of a long-awaited project in the city of around 26,000 residents.<\/p>\n
The Saumur Muslim Cultural Association launched the project in the early 2000s after the community\u2019s previous prayer space, which could accommodate only about 100 people, became insufficient.<\/p>\n
In 2016, the municipal council approved the sale of a 1,675-square-meter plot of undeveloped land to the association for \u20ac75,375. The city also helped prepare the site by removing an old sports facility and carrying out land work.<\/p>\n
Following the approval of the construction permit in November 2018, the foundation stone was laid in early 2019. The project was fully funded by the Muslim community through donations, with a fundraising campaign launched to collect around \u20ac700,000 for construction costs.<\/p>\n
The new mosque covers approximately 700 square meters and provides significantly improved prayer areas and facilities compared with the former location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Mosque Opens in French City of Saumur After Years of Construction —————————————— A new mosque has officially opened in the western French city of Saumur after more than a decade of efforts by the local Muslim community to build a larger place of worship capable of accommodating the growing number of worshippers. Located in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[5040],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-france"],"yoast_head":"\n