Pink Mosque

It was also known as the mosque of the Tatar cemetery, the Green Mosque, the Malokamennaya and Nizenkaya Buharskaya  Mosque. According to the writings of Shigabutdin Mardzhani, the Nizenkaya mosque was built here in 1808 with donations from the merchant Musa Apanaev who dedicated it to his late daughter, Zubaida.

In 1905-1906, the merchant Mukhametsadyk Galikeev erected the present buildings with its beautifully decorated brickwork. The north facing façade boasted a three-pier minaret where the entrance to the mosque is also situated. Its pink-decorated walls gave the mosque its name. A madrassa was added next to the mosque at a later stage.

In addition to the Pink Mosque, Mukhametsadyk Galikev, a member of the Kazan City Duma (City Parliament), and honorary member of the “Society for Helping the Poor Muslims of Kazan”, donated funds for the construction of more than 10 mosques. He invested in work on the Usmanov mosque and helped in the construction of the Mukhammadia madrassa at the Galeev mosque.

On the 22^nd July, 1931, the Central Executive Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan issued a decree depriving the mosque of its religious status, and it was transformed into a sanatorium for workers of the fur factory. At the same time some of the elements of the upper tiers of the mosque were removed, including the awning and upper cylinder. All that remained of the mosque was the lower octagonal part with the balcony, and the hall was divided into two floors.

In 1998, to mark the 1000^th anniversary of the acceptance of Islam, the madrassa building was opened. In addition to religious disciplines, other subjects such as history, law, IT and even bee keeping can be studied here.

Only the pink top of the minaret has survived to the present day to recall the origin of the mosque (which today is green).