Aqsa Mosque, The Hague

The Aqsa Mosque (Dutch: Mescidi Aksamoskee) is a mosque, located on the Wagenstraat, in the city of The Hague, in the Netherlands. The building was originally built as a synagogue.

Aqsa Mosque
Dutch: Aksamoskee
The mosque in 2010
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue (1844–1944) Mosque (since 1981)
Location
Location	Wagenstraat, The Hague, South Holland
Country	The Netherlands
Location of the mosque in South Holland
Geographic coordinates	52°04′30″N 4°18′48″E
Architecture
Architect(s)	A. Roodenburg
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Neoclassical
Completed	1844 (as a synagogue) 1981 (as a mosque)
Minaret(s)	Two (not original)
Rijksmonument
Official name	Wagenstraat 103, 2512 AS in The Hague
Type	Monument: Religious building
Criteria	Cultural and historical importance
Designated	19 October 1983
Reference no.	459778

Overview

The Neoclassical building on the Wagenstraat opened in 1844, serving the Ashkenazi Jews of the city. It was expanded in 1922 and damaged by fire in 1944.^[1] Around 80% of the city's Jews were killed in the Holocaust, while the synagogues were plundered.^[2]

In 1976 the Jewish community sold the building to the city on condition that it never be converted into a church.^[1] The city's Turkish Muslim community began using it without permission during Ramadan 1979 due to safety concerns over their previous mosque.^[3] The Turkish community took legal ownership of the building in 1981.^[4] The Jewish community moved into a converted former Protestant church, which has since been mostly repurposed as apartments.^[5]

The building is a Rijksmonument with the number 459778, inscribed 19 October 1993.^[6]

Gallery

• 
  The building before its conversion to a mosque. Note the lack of minarets
• 
  Close-up of a minaret
• 
  Islamic prayer, facing the mihrab
• 
  Interior view

See also

• Islam portal
• Netherlands portal

• Islam in the Netherlands
• List of mosques in the Netherlands