Auburn Gallipoli Mosque, Ottoman style mosque in Auburn, New South Wales, Australia.
Auburn Gallipoli Mosque is an Ottoman-style mosque in Auburn, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. It is modelled on the mosque of the Marmara University Faculty of Theology in Istanbul. The cream-coloured facade has arched windows and circular openings, a large grey ribbed central dome with a gold finial, smaller grey domes below it, and two cylindrical minarets with grey balconies and pointed silver caps.
The mosque was built starting in 1986 after Turkish immigrants arrived in greater numbers and the community needed a dedicated place of worship. The building was completed in 1999 and has shaped the area's character since then.
The name recalls the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I, chosen by mosque officials to mark what they call the shared legacy of Australian society and the Australian Turkish Muslim Community that built the mosque. A Saturday Turkish language and cultural class for young Turkish Australians is held in the community hall.
The mosque stands in Auburn, in Sydney's western suburbs, and is entered from the street past the metal fence and trees at the front. Around 500 worshippers attend daily, but Friday prayer brings about 2,000, so the building and its surroundings are busiest then. The site also holds a community hall, a children's playground and a gym.
The mosque's design copies the Marmara University Faculty of Theology mosque in Istanbul. On 10 December 2005, then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the Friday sermon and prayed among the worshippers. Next door stands the Gallipoli Home, an aged care home built for the local Turkish and Muslim community.
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