Dungan Mosque

The Dungan Mosque is one of the most interesting sights of the city of Karakol along with the Holy Trinity Church.
The Dungan mosque is connected with the large Dungan diaspora in Karakol, the history of which is more than 100 years old. In 1877, China had a civil war between Chinese Muslims and supporters of traditional Chinese religions. The Muslims of China were subjected to all kinds of oppression, and therefore more than 300,000 people were forced to flee across the Tien Shan mountains to Kyrgyzstan, where many of them settled, including in Karakol. These Chinese Muslims were called Dungans and they are called that way to this day.
After settling in the city, the Dungans decided to build a mosque for themselves. The famous architect from Beijing Zhou-Si was invited. The mosque was built over 3 years and has an important distinctive feature: the wooden structures of the temple were connected without a single nail. and are intact and preserved even after 120 years.
The first thing that catches your eye when you see this amazing building is the brightly expressed Chinese motifs. The roof of the mosque is decorated in different colors and has a quaint sloping shape, traditional for Chinese buildings.

It is a unique architectural monument of Central Asia. The mosque is open to tourists, but women are recommended to cover their head with special shawls, which can be taken free of charge at the entrance to the mosque. Also, it is not recommended for non-Muslims to go inside the mosque, but only to see the territory and the building from the outside.

How to get to the Dungan mosque?

The Dungan mosque in Karakol is located near the intersection of Abdrakhmanov and Bektenov streets, near the central square of the city.

Dungan mosque on the map