President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening ceremony of the Zangilan Mosque.

Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, briefed the head of state and the First Lady on the completed work. The foundation of the new mosque in Zangilan was laid by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on April 26, 2021, following the liberation of the city. The construction of the mosque was carried out by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation with support from PASHA Holding LLC.

During the 30 years of Armenian occupation, numerous atrocities were committed against our religious monuments in our ancestral lands. The Armenians destroyed residential and administrative buildings, devastated the entire infrastructure in our cities and districts, looted our natural resources, and subjected our historical, religious, and cultural monuments to vandalism. The Zangilan district's historical, religious, and cultural monuments were not spared from Armenian aggression, suffering significant destruction and desecration. During the occupation, the historic mosque in Zangilan was repurposed as a stable; built in the 19th century and designated as an architectural monument, lost up to 70 percent of its original appearance.

Following the liberation of the territories, restoration and construction works commenced on the Zangilan Mosque as part of ongoing projects to restore historical, religious, and cultural monuments in Karabakh. A team of local and foreign experts assessed the mosque’s existing structure, leading to a decision to proceed with its conservation.

A new mosque was constructed adjacent to the conserved historical mosque. The new building features a rectangular layout, two minarets and a three-nave plan. It includes prayer halls accommodating 220 and 100 worshippers, respectively, with the minarets and dome made from stone and brick. Interior decoration work includes with the mihrab crafted from stone and adorned with botanical patterns, while the pulpit and lattice elements are made of natural wood.

At the site of the historic Zangilan City Mosque, which was destroyed during the occupation, an open-air exhibition has been established. This exhibition depicts the extensive vandalism inflicted on numerous religious monuments in the Karabakh and East Zangazur territories. One of the most severe consequences of the occupation has been the deliberate destruction of our cultural heritage, including monuments of universal significance related to the Islamic religion. It has also been revealed that hundreds of Muslim cemeteries were destroyed, and the purposes of Muslim places of worship, mosques, and tombs were altered or falsified. In many cases, these places were used as stables for animals considered forbidden (haram) in our religion.