Algeria to open world's 3rd largest mosque on their 66th anniversary of revolution against France

ALGIERS, ALGERIA - SEPTEMBER 14: Nine years after the construction of the mosque Algeria will open the world's third-largest mosque to worship. The opening of the Grand Mosque will be held on November 1, the date coincides with the 66th anniversary of the outbreak of the National Liberation War. The Algerian War, which lasted from Nov. 1, 1954, to March 19, 1962, that Algeria fully regained its status as an independent nation. Fought between French forces and the Algerian National Front (FLN), the bloodshed was said to have claimed some 1.5 million Algerian lives. Freedom was finally had on July 5, 1962, thus Sunday's notable date as well. The mosque was built in an area that was previously used as a missionary center by the catholic priests in the capital during the French colonial period. The area was named after Charles Lavigerie, the spiritual leader of the missionary activities of colonialist France in Africa at that time. Algerians changed the name of the neighborhood of Lavigerie to Muhammediye after independence and started the construction of a new mosque complex in this area in 2011. Grand Mosque is a candidate to become the symbol of the country, built at a cost of $ 1.5 billion. According to the Algerian authorities, the "Grand Mosque", which is established on an area of 200 thousand square meters, provides the opportunity to worship 120,000 people and is third in the world in terms of size after the mosques in the holy lands of Mecca and Medina. The mosque’s tower-shaped angular minaret is 265 meters long, also hosts a library with a capacity of 2,000 people. The 3-storey underground car park in the mosque complex has a capacity of 6,000 vehicles. Algerians accuse France of erasing the Algerian identity and launching a war against mosques and religious schools. In 1836, France opened the first Catholic missionary school in Algeria. (Footage by Hamza Zait/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)