Dungan Mosque. Along with the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Dungan Mosque is one of the most interesting sights of Karakol. The Dungan Mosque is a rather unusual structure associated with the numerous Dungan diaspora in Karakol, whose age exceeds 100 years. In 1877, a civil war broke out in China between Chinese Muslims and supporters of the traditional Chinese religion. Chinese Muslims were subjected to all kinds of harassment, and more than 300 thousand. People were forced to flee through the Tien Shan Mountains to Kyrgyzstan, where many of them settled, including in Karakol. These Chinese Muslims were called Dungans and continue to be called to this day. Having settled in the city, the Dungans decided to build their own mosque and invited the famous architect Zhou Xi from Beijing.
The mosque was built for three years and has important features. The wooden structure of the temple was connected without a single nail and has survived to this day 120 years later. The first thing that catches your eye when looking at this magnificent building is the unique Chinese motifs. The roof of the mosque is painted in a variety of colors and has an unusual slope for a traditional Chinese building. The surprisingly complex wood carving adorning the facade of the building is also striking. This is a unique architectural feature of Central Asia, and it is almost impossible to find anything like it. The mosque is open to tourists, but women are advised to cover their heads with a special scarf. Non-Muslims are also advised not to enter the mosque, but to inspect it from the outside.
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