30 June 2010
See the Aziziye Mosque
Your author's picture doesn't really do it justice, but the beautiful Aziziye Mosque, on Stoke Newington Road in Hackney, is quite a sight. The building was originally a cinema, having opened in 1913, the building became the Ambassador Cinema in 1933, and went through various incarnations before becoming a Star Bingo Club by 1965.
It reopened as the Astra Cinema in 1974, and later becoming it became a cinema club playing risqué martial arts and sexy films, before it apparently closed in July 1983. Interestingly, the domes on either side of the entrance are actually part of the original cinema design.
Eventually, in 1994, it was converted into a mosque for the local Turkish Community, with the insides being largely removed and the outsides covered in the pretty tiling we see today. Your author is unsure whether the mosque itself is open to visitors but he understands that it does contain, in the same building, a halal butcher and Turkish supermarket, and a restaurant called Aziziye Halal Restaurant, which are surely worth a look.
For more, see www.cinematreasures.org
It reopened as the Astra Cinema in 1974, and later becoming it became a cinema club playing risqué martial arts and sexy films, before it apparently closed in July 1983. Interestingly, the domes on either side of the entrance are actually part of the original cinema design.
Eventually, in 1994, it was converted into a mosque for the local Turkish Community, with the insides being largely removed and the outsides covered in the pretty tiling we see today. Your author is unsure whether the mosque itself is open to visitors but he understands that it does contain, in the same building, a halal butcher and Turkish supermarket, and a restaurant called Aziziye Halal Restaurant, which are surely worth a look.
For more, see www.cinematreasures.org
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I am always delighted when a lovely old building is converted into something splendid, instead of being bulldozed. And it is really interesting that the domes, which presumably copied Islamic architecture back in 1913, are now an integral part of real Islamic architecture.
ReplyDeleteLovely to see some positive comments about Azizye. I got married there nine years ago today and we have often eaten at the restaurant which is lovely!
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