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Mosque project for İstanbul's Çamlıca Hill selected

The Remodeling and Sustenance Association of İstanbul Mosque, Education and Culture Service Units has selected plans for a mosque to be built on Üsküdar's highest hill, Çamlıca, on the Anatolian side of İstanbul.

The project, the work of architects Bahar Mızrak and Gül Totu, was selected from among two shortlisted plans chosen through a design competition.

The results of the competition were announced on Thursday by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning. No project had been deemed worthy of the grand prize of TL 300,000, but runners-up were awarded total prizes of TL 225,000.

The ministry said 62 architects had submitted plans to the competition. The judging panel narrowed the entries down to a longlist of 40 and then whittled it down to 20 projects before arriving at a final decision.

The mosque, which will occupy a nearly 15,000-square-meter plot and have a capacity of approximately 30,000 people, is designed to be visible from every corner of İstanbul, and plans include cultural and social facilities in its vicinity. Additional facilities will be constructed over a total area of 57,511 square meters, including the mosque, a tourist area with cafés and restaurants, a recreation area, a children's park and facilities where courses on Ottoman calligraphy, gilding and ebru (paper marbling) will be offered.

Head of the Remodeling and Sustenance Association Ergin Külünk said authorities would start building immediately.

The construction of the mosque is expected to cost more than TL 100 million, Külünk said, adding that the cost would be covered mostly by donations.

Adapted from Worldbulletin