This Oskemen mosque looks like a Disney castle in the snow 

Seeing buildings emerge from a howling blizzard gives a different impression from viewing them on a clear, sunny day. One of the Oskemen (also known by its Russian name Ust-Kamenogorsk) landmarks that made the biggest impression on me was the Muhamadi Mosque which — as the photos show — looks very like a Disney castle – or it would if it wasn’t surrounded by Soviet era apartment blocks. 

The mosque was built just seven years ago, in 2003. It’s one of the many mosques built in Kazakhstan and across Central Asia since the collapse of communism, after which people were allowed to worship freely again. 

The Oskemen mosque was funded by local businessman Kazyken Anuarbekovich Mukhamadiev, who was involved in a variety of businesses including managing the city’s central market, and named after him. 

The two minarets are 45 metres high. According to my research into the mosque, the minarets are in the Turkish style as they were built by Turkish builders, while many of the other architectural features — the Bukhara portals, the large round dome — are in the Central Asian style. Each of the minarets has three balconies, from where people are called to prayer.

I didn’t go inside the Oskemen mosque out of respect and because I’ve had uncomfortable experiences before trying to enter mosques as tourist rather than a worshipper. However, I had that there are two prayer halls — one for men and one for women.