Grand is the word

Kazakhstan has put its oil riches to good use: free schooling for everyone, free health care, and wonderful architecture. After a nice lunch at a Georgian restaurant we pulled up at the parking outside one of the world’s largest mosques: Astana Central Mosque. The sun was right in our faces, so my first thought was that I wouldn’t be able to take a photo of the exterior. But as it turned out, the shadow of one of the 130 meter tall minarets reached our car, giving me an interesting shot of the structure.

It was a long walk across a windy plaza to the north entrance. The wooden door is more than 12 meters high, so of course there’s a smaller door set into it. This is merely 4 meters high, more than twice as tall as me. Sometimes these large things are just impressive by their size. But this door made of iroko wood looked lovely close up, with typical Kazakh ornamental carvings.

The scale of the interior is overwhelming. Again, when you stop and look, it is not just a thing made to grand proportions. There is a light and airy feeling to the interior. I stopped to take a photo of the afternoon light streaming in through one of the stained-glass windows. Given that the temperatures can go down to 40 Celsius below freezing, the mosque is air conditioned. I could feel the circulating air. We turned a corner and saw a grand corridor leading to the central prayer hall.

The hall itself lies under the main dome. With a diameter of 62 meters, it is one of the largest domes in the world. Sitting atop the mosque, it reaches a height of more than 80 meters. Entering the hall below it you have a sense of air and light. You can see part of the western wall in the photo above, with illuminated calligraphy of the many names of the god. All the calligraphy in the mosque is due to the Kazakh master Asylbek Baizakuly. Another object I found impressive was the enormous Kazakh-style carpet which covered the floor. The deep pile felt very comfortable under my feet.

This 4 meters high door can be opened up to allow an overflow of worshippers standing in the courtyard to participate in worship. Given the grand proportions of the interior, and the fact that the population of Astana is not very large, I doubt that the door needs to be opened often. The mosque had something which I’ve never seen before: a cafe and a shopping arcade inside. I sat down with an espresso, and The Family had her cappuccino, while we shared a nice pastry. We talked of shoes and ships and sealing wax. Our first day in Astana had gone well.