Architecture of the Mosques of the South Urals in the Late 18th - Early 20th Centuries

This master's thesis is devoted to the study and identification of the features of the architectural style of the mosques of the Southern Urals of the late XVIII — early XX centuries. In the Islamic world, the mosque plays a colossal religious, cultural, socio-economic, educational, and political role, being an architectural phenomenon at the same time. On the one hand, this is an object of creation of architects, focused on the ancient traditions, on the other hand, this is an example of the ever-changing creative approach of Islam. To achieve this goal, we collected information and images about mosques in the territories of the former Orenburg and Ufa provinces, analyzed the development of their architecture in different periods in relation to the Islamic architecture of Russia and Russian architecture in general; identified possible examples of world Islamic architecture that could affect the architecture of mosques in the Southern Urals, and also determined the uniqueness of the architecture of mosques in the Southern Urals. Study of the features of the architecture of mosques in the Southern Urals in the end of XVIII-in the beginning of XX centuries, allows us to draw conclusions that the architecture of the South Ural mosques is based on in the end of XVIII-in the beginning of XX centuries there are all-Russian style traditions, since the construction of mosques took place according to the set canons and was strictly regulated by the state. However, the proximity of different ethnic and religious groups in the region has caused a symbiosis of European and Asian architectural traditions.