Kocatepe Mosque
The Largest Mosque In Ankara, A Huge Ottoman Revival Complex With Four Minarets And A Large Central Dome, Completed In 1987, With A Lower Floor Containing A Shopping Centre And A Library. A Landmark Visible Across The City, With A Calm Courtyard · Cankaya, Ankara
Kocatepe Mosque is the largest mosque in Ankara, a landmark on a hill in the Kizilay district at the heart of the capital, and its four tall minarets and great central dome can be seen from many parts of the city. Work began in the 1960s and the mosque opened in 1987 (confirm), built in the style of the great Ottoman mosques of Istanbul, with a broad courtyard, a high central dome and thin, pencil-like minarets. The prayer hall is vast, lined with carpet, with tall windows and a chandelier, and a large number of worshippers can pray at once, especially on Fridays and during Ramadan. Below the mosque lies a lower level with a shopping centre, a library and meeting rooms (confirm). The mosque is a working place of worship first, and respectful visitors are welcome outside prayer. A quiet courtyard offers a pause in a busy city, and it is an easy stop of one hour from Kizilay Square, the metro and Ataturk Boulevard.
Kocatepe Mosque, a large modern mosque on a hill in Kizilay in the centre of Ankara, near the Kocatepe district and the Ataturk Boulevard; coordinates approximate, Cankaya, Ankara, Turkiye
The mosque is open daily from early morning until late night for worshippers, and visitors are normally welcome outside the five daily prayers, roughly from about 09:00 to dusk - confirm, since entry rules and times change. Visitors should avoid the main Friday noon prayer, when the hall and courtyard fill, and the evening and night prayers. The lower shopping floor keeps ordinary shop hours, roughly 10:00 to 21:00 (confirm). Hours vary during Ramadan and on religious holidays, when the mosque is busiest and tourist entry may be limited.