
Istiqlal Mosque
National mosque of marble and steel under a vast dome, built over seventeen years on a former fort.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta follows the money behind the national mosque, from the August day in nineteen sixty-one when President Sukarno drove the first pile. It turns on public donations, the state budget and a political crisis that halted work. Along the way it meets Friedrich Silaban, the Christian architect from North Sumatra who won the design. Best heard standing on the marble floor of the main hall.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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