THE GREAT MOSQUE

The vicissitudes of history having done their work, it took nearly thirty-five years between the initial project carried by Idi Amin Dada and the inauguration by Muammar Gaddafi, for the building to take its current configuration. Inaugurated in 2008 by the Libyan leader, whose regime had financially supported the construction work, the Great Mosque (called the Gaddafi Mosque until the death of the "guide") of Kampala can accommodate some sixteen thousand worshippers, which makes it one of the largest on the continent. The interior, under its domes, with its minbar (pulpit) from which the preaching is delivered in Arabic before being translated into English, Luganda and Swahili, its furniture coming from the four corners of the globe (a large Koran offered by Libya, glassware from Murano...), its columns and its soft carpet, is worth a visit. The minaret (about fifty meters high) is also worth the detour and the physical effort: a spiral staircase of more than three hundred steps (vaguely reminiscent of those of the lighthouses of the Breton coasts...) allows access to its peak from which the 360 degrees view on the capital is superb. Lovers of Islamic religious architecture should not miss the pleasant Kibuli mosque (completed in 1951, open to visitors and located at the top of the eponymous hill), and the Aga Khan mosque, located a few blocks from the great mosque and built (like the Kibuli mosque) thanks to funding from the Ismaili community.