A Sydney icon, Auburn Gallipoli Mosque
The Auburn Gallipoli Mosque is an Ottoman-style Turkish mosque in Auburn, Sydney, New South Wales. The mosque attracts about 800 worshipers every week. Although the mosque is primarily used by Turkish Australians, nearly half of the present congregation is made up of Muslims from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
The first mosque on the present mosque site was opened for worship on the 3rd of November 1979. It was a house which had the internal walls removed to generate an open space environment. The construction of the present mosque structure began in 1986. The Mosque’s construction was completed and officially opened on 28th of November 1999, twenty years after the initial opening. The current building took a painstaking 13 years to complete. The construction time was restrained due to a lack of funds and the time required to raise funds through donations. Turkish community raised $6 million dollars to help finish the mosque. Many other local Muslim members irrespective of their ethnic background have greatly contributed to the costs attributed to the building of the mosque.
The name of the mosque – Auburn Gallipoli Mosque – reflects the shared legacy of the Australian society and the main community behind the construction of the mosque, the Australian Turkish Muslim Community
Recognized as a Sydney Icon with its elegant presence on the Western Train line, Auburn Gallipoli Mosque was registered in “heritage list” by The National Trust in April 2010 due to its architectural and cultural importance.