Gaddafi Mosque

Kampala boasts the second largest mosque in Africa (after Morocco) which was started by Idi Amin and completed with the help of funding from General Gaddafi of Libya in 2008.

Women have to veil up to enter; I had to cover my trouser legs as well as my hair and my bare arms. It was hard climbing the steps with my legs hobbled by a shawl!  Everyone must also remove their shoes before walking up the stairs to enter the mosque.

 
There are two mosques, one above the other. The roof of the lower mosque also serves as a large terrace where people pray. There's a large arch framing the view to the east - it's just off the right edge of the first picture above.

The main mosque upstairs is used for services on Fridays.  The men pray in the large room downstairs and an imam preaches from the wooden pulpit.

 

The women pray from the balcony upstairs

 

 Here I am on the women's balcony

The high point of the tour, literally, is climbing the minaret, which is the tallest spot in Kampala and from which there are wonderful views of the city all around (see next post).  It was quite a climb up - here's the view looking down inside the tower from the top.

Here I am at the top with a panoramic view of Kampala.  The tall building on the horizon behind me on the left (my right) is the Sheraton Hotel, where I performed last weekend with the Kampala Symphony.

 Ramadan starts on Friday July 20 so I expect the mosque will be very busy at that time.