Red Mosque, Oral

In the 1920s most churches and mosques in Uralsk were closed by the Bolsheviks and subsequently either demolished or used for other purposes. The Red Mosque suffered the same fate. The minaret was removed and the red colour was replaced by a grey paint coating. In 1936 a home for disabled people was established in the mosque, then in the 1960s a vocational school and a student dormitory. In 1980 the building was recognized as a monument of 19th‑century religious architecture. Over time the building fell into increasing disrepair and was eventually abandoned, until in the early 1990s it resembled a ruin. Demolition of the building was discussed, as a revival of the mosque seemed almost impossible. The now organized Tatar cultural centre wanted to prevent this, whose chairman Rischat Chairullin finally brought the building into the possession of his company in the year 2000.

Between 2005 and 2006 the building was restored and, among other things, received a minaret again. Chairullin was supported in this by the grandson of the former imam of the mosque and a Kazakh architect from Saint Petersburg. He also received support from the local population in the rebuilding of the mosque. On 28 August 2006 the mosque was inaugurated.

Architecture

The building has two storeys, with the minaret on the roof. The walls are made of red bricks, which give the mosque its name. The exterior walls are decorated below the eaves with a tooth pattern. The floors are wooden, the roof is covered with slate.