Grand Mosque of Paris

The Grand Mosque of Paris opened in 1926 as France's thanks to its Muslim soldiers, and it remains the city's central mosque a century later. The French state funded the mosque after the First World War, in which around 100,000 Muslim soldiers from France's North and West African territories had died, and the building was conceived as a permanent, formal act of gratitude and as the seat of Islam in a country that then ruled over a large Muslim colonial population. It was inaugurated in 1926 by President Gaston Doumergue. Tourist visits generally Saturday-Thursday 09:00-18:00; Friday is reserved for congregational prayer and religious access. An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit. Tourist visits generally Saturday-Thursday 09:00-18:00; Friday is reserved for congregational prayer and religious access. Tourist admission is EUR 3; worship access is free. An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit. Metro Place Monge or Censier-Daubenton. Yes. Worship, events, maintenance, weather and security can change ordinary access. No. Special tours, exhibitions and upgrades use separate tickets. Tourist visits generally Saturday-Thursday 09:00-18:00; Friday is reserved for congregational prayer and religious access. Tourist admission is EUR 3; worship access is free. An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit. Metro Place Monge or Censier-Daubenton. Tourist visits generally Saturday-Thursday 09:00-18:00; Friday is reserved for

A prayer hall, a series of Andalusian-style courtyards, a hammam, a tea room and a garden, arranged as a walled complex rather than a single building. The main courtyard, patterned on the Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, is tiled in zellige mosaic and lined with horseshoe arches; the prayer hall opens off it and is closed to non-Muslim visitors during and around prayer times. The minaret rises above the complex and is the landmark visible from the street. Tourist admission is EUR 3; worship access is free. Metro Place Monge or Censier-Daubenton.

Thirty to forty-five minutes for the courtyards and public areas; longer if the hammam or tea room is part of the plan. The guided visit covers the courtyards, the garden and the exterior of the prayer hall, and moves at a fairly brisk pace since the areas open to non-Muslim visitors are limited. Add on time separately for the hammam, which runs on its own single-sex sessions and is a several-hour visit in its own right, or for tea and pastries in the courtyard restaurant. An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit.

Tourist visits generally Saturday-Thursday 09:00-18:00; Friday is reserved for congregational prayer and religious access. Metro Place Monge or Censier-Daubenton. An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit. Tourist admission is EUR 3; worship access is free.

Tourist admission is EUR 3; worship access is free. Tourist visits generally Saturday-Thursday 09:00-18:00; Friday is reserved for congregational prayer and religious access. An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit. Metro Place Monge or Censier-Daubenton.

Metro Place Monge or Censier-Daubenton. An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit. Tourist visits generally Saturday-Thursday 09:00-18:00; Friday is reserved for congregational prayer and religious access. Tourist admission is EUR 3; worship access is free.

An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit. Tourist visits generally Saturday-Thursday 09:00-18:00; Friday is reserved for congregational prayer and religious access. Tourist admission is EUR 3; worship access is free. An accessible route serves principal lower or public areas, but stairs, historic fabric, crypts or rooftop routes limit the complete circuit. Historic surfaces, crowds and security remain relevant.

The main courtyard, patterned on the Alhambra's Court of the Lions with its tiled arcades and central fountain, is the complex's signature shot and the one most visitors come for. The minaret, seen from Place du Puits de l'Ermite or across the Jardin des Plantes, gives the cleanest exterior view of the building's silhouette against the sky. Photography inside the prayer hall is generally not permitted, and modest, respectful photography of worshippers is expected throughout — this is an active place of worship rather than a museum set built to be photographed. Tourist admission is EUR 3; worship access is free.