As guides we all drive past and sometimes name them, come and join IPTGSA members and find out the story behind the story, our Midrand visit will be to the NIZAMIYE COMPLEX and the St Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodox Church
The biggest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere has been built right here in Midrand. This is not just any mosque but is a faithfully replicated ¾-scale copy of the beautiful 500-year-old Selimiye Mosque found in the city of Edirne. The mosque in Edirne, once the capital of the old Turkish Ottoman Empire, was commissioned in the 15th century by the ruler, Sultan Selim II. Today it is regarded as the greatest building in Turkish Islamic history.
Set deep in a dusty, less-than-spectacular Midrand suburb, St Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodox Church is an anomaly: only one of three Russian Orthodox Churches in Africa, its gold-leaf domes blindingly glint against an incongruous hot-blue sky; a Slavic Star of Bethlehem, they guide curious strangers from the N1 highway to the gate’s buzzer. Inside you’ll find ground-up saint bones, beeswax candles, a 15th-century icon of St Mark, Patron Saint of Africa, and no chairs.
Program of the Day 10 March 2022
- 09:15 for 09:45 Meet at the mosque
- 09:45 to 10:00 Welcome cup of coffee
- 10:00 to 12:00 Tour through the mosque with guide and Q&A
- 12:30 to 13:30 Turkish lunch prepared as a feast specially for us (R100)
- 13:30 to 14:00 Travel to the Russian orthodox church
- should be finished by 15:00
Dress code: Men long pants and Ladies bring a scarf.
Thank you to Anton Joubert and Heidi Lehodey for doing all organising
