There's been a fair bit of stuff tossed around on this thread. Some people have voiced objections based on the fact that minarets might be ugly and clash with the architecure around them, or that the church towers "were there first" and therefore have some sort of right to be there, etc, etc.

A few days ago I visited the Zurich mosque to actually see for myself what all the fuss was about. I took some photos to post onto this thread for those who have not visited the mosque to see a little bit more about the mosque itself and the surrounding area.

To recap - the SVP have recently been calling for the Zurich mosque to tear down their minaret as a gesture to show if they are willing to integrate. There are a total of four mosques in Switzerland, a country that has a muslim population representing 8% of the total. Minarets exist on only two of these - planning permission has been denied by way of a "popular" vote for the other two.


Here's the first photo:



Here's a view showing the church tower across the road. It's a shot that shows the comparison well. I took a look at the church - a huge building on huge grounds. No traditional church spire - just an ugly piece of tower. Then I realised that many of the church towers I've seen in Switzerland aren't the "traditional" ones we all imagine, many are "modern" - huge, hideous and ugly.

Here's a shot of the mosque itself, a little closer:



With the exception of the minaret, the building itself has obviously been designed to look very Swiss (at least in the modern sense). There's the traditional box-like ugly concrete structure that we all recognise so well. Care has obviously been taken to blend in with the surroundings. As you'll see in a moment, the surroundings aren't exactly beautiful... In fact during this whole process I tried to find some camera angles where I could get a nice shot. Overhead tram lines, satellite dishes, huge TV aeriels and horrible architecture spoilt my efforts.

In this next shot you might see a little more of what I am getting at.



In case you are wondering where the minaret went, it's on the right hand side of the image - you'll see a small white peak poking out next to a turret of the same size and shape from the house next door. You'll notice that the ugly church tower is by far the dominant feature of this photo. You might appreciate some of the "beauty" of this area. Fans of Switzerland's supposedly clean air [swissinfo.ch] will perhaps notice the brown haze in the background. Those of you who are used to seeing a minaret under a brown sky won't be disappointed...



I took this shot because I wanted to show the hideous building on the right. I think if anything has to be demolished to improve the visual appeal of the area it shouldn't be the mosque! I also wanted to show the many satellite dishes and aerials that jut up from the roof tops, but I wasn't able to capture it properly with this shot. If you visit the area and look around you'll see what I mean.

I'd be interested if anyone has any photos from the surrounding areas of the mosques where they were denied planning permission to build the minaret - I wonder if a minaret would really disturb the visual appeal of these areas - because in the case of the Zurich mosque this is not an issue - the area is quite ugly anyway, IMHO.

I sincerely hope that my photos will bring another angle to this thread and give people who have never actually seen what we are talking about the chance to form a more informed opinion about the issue.

If you quote this post in a reply - please be so kind as to not quote the images a second time. Thanks.