Islamic Mosque and Cultural Center

The Islamic Center of Washington on Embassy Row along Massachusetts Avenue was the largest mosque in the western hemisphere when it opened in 1957. Designed by Italian-Egyptian architect Mario Rossi, it draws on Mamluk traditions and rises around a slender 50-metre minaret; the prayer hall is angled away from the street grid so it faces precisely toward Mecca. Inside, Turkish Iznik tiles, Persian carpets and an Egyptian carved-wood minbar were gifted by Muslim-majority countries. President Eisenhower addressed worshippers here in 1957, and George W. Bush spoke from the same spot after the attacks of 11 September 2001. The complex still functions as mosque, school and cultural bridge in a city built around diplomacy.