On October 16, the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, the Mufti of the republic Kamil Samigullin and the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin took part in a solemn ceremony of opening the historic Ak Mechet mosque in Kazan after restoration.

The mosque was built in 1801-1805. Until recently, it was the only non-working historic mosque in Kazan. After its closure in 1928, the religious building was adapted for other purposes: the minaret was broken up, the interior was redesigned, and extensions were added. Over the years, it housed a fur club, a school, administrative premises of the fur factory. After the collapse of the USSR until the early 2000s, the mosque building was used for the educational and production needs of Melita Enterprise. In 2002, the mosque was returned to believers. In 2023-2024, on the initiative of the Rais of Tatarstan, repair and restoration work was carried out in the mosque at the expense of charitable funds.

Rustam Minnikhanov looked around the premises of the new mosque. On the first floor of the building, there is a women’s prayer hall with a separate entrance, on the second floor there is a three-hall men’s prayer hall.

The Rais of Tatarstan thanked all those who took part in the reconstruction of the mosque and contributed to this noble cause.