AL NURI MOSQUE READY TO RISE FROM RUINS AS FINAL DESIGNS ARE CHOSEN
▶ Mosul’s ancient religious buildings destroyed by ISIS will be rebuilt under Unesco plan backed by UAE
The final designs for the rebuilding of Al Nuri Mosque and two churches in the Iraqi city of Mosul will be selected next week.
Reconstruction work on the ruined buildings will begin by December or January, a senior UN cultural official told The National.
The 12th-century mosque and its famous leaning minaret were destroyed by ISIS in 2017 as government forces closed in on the last fighters of the group that once controlled the city and much of north-west Iraq.
A UN programme called Reviving the Spirit of Mosul was launched in 2018 to restore the shattered city.
Unesco, the organisation’s cultural agency, aims to rebuild the city’s historic landmarks with international funding.
The reconstruction of the mosque, two churches and several other religious sites is being funded by the UAE.
“We are in the final phase before work starts,” said Paolo Fontani, Unesco’s Iraq director.
“We plan to start the reconstruction of Al Hadba Minaret, Al Tahera Church and Al Saa’a Monastery by December 2021 or January 2022.
“The minaret will be built exactly as it was, but it is the most complex in terms of reconstruction.”
On Monday, officials from Unesco will attend a two-day meeting in Iraq to discuss the design.
Officials from the Sunni Waqf, Iraq’s Ministry of Culture, the Egyptian architecture firm that won the competition to redesign Al Nuri Mosque and an Iraqi architecture firm, as well as representatives from the UAE will be at the meeting.
“We are holding this meeting so that we can have a frank and open conversation on the final design so everyone feels comfortable,” Mr Fontani said.
“This is due to the architectural contribution, because of the need to rally people around the project, to have more stakeholders involved and participatory meetings. We want to make sure that everybody’s on board.”
The UN official said the agency wanted the design to be “as close as possible to what the community wants”.
Work on the main structure of the mosque itself is expected to start in March.
In April, a team of eight Egyptian architects won an international competition to provide the design for the rebuilt mosque.
The plan includes rebuilding the mosque’s historic prayer hall and integrating the complex, which is the largest public space in the Old City of Mosul, in its urban surroundings through open spaces with five entrances from the surrounding streets, Unesco said.
Although the prayer hall will look as it did before its destruction in 2017, it will feature improvements in the use of natural light and expanded spaces for women and dignitaries.
Mr Fontani said there were some sensitivities on how the mosque and the garden around it would look.
Some critics have said the design looks too modern and that
Sunday’s celebration was probably the biggest gathering since the liberation of the city
PAOLO FONTANI
Iraq director, Unesco
it does not have an Iraqi identity, but the government has supported the UN’s decisions, he said.
Unesco will schedule further meetings so that “everyone is comfortable without missing any details”, he said.
The project aims to revive Mosul’s cultural life and diversity. For thousands of years, the city was a commercial and intellectual centre and a crossroads.
On Sunday, a ceremony was held at the mosque for the first time in four years, during celebrations of the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday. Pictures and videos on social media showed hundreds gathering in front of the mosque, the courtyard decorated with multicoloured lights that illuminated the building’s gaping windows, the scaffolding that surrounds the site and the minaret, only the base of which has survived.
“There were a lot of people in the historical centre of Mosul.
Around 1,200 people gathered to celebrate,” Mr Fontani said.
“It was probably the biggest gathering seen since the liberation of the city.”
Local people told Unesco staff they were pleased to see the mosque’s compound being rebuilt.
“The reconstruction effort made by Unesco gives people some reassurances that they will get to see their mosque and religious sites rebuilt again,” said Mr Fontani.
The UN agency hopes the ancient buildings will be rebuilt by the end of 2023.