Shah-do Shamshira Mosque

A two-storey mosque stands on the bank of the Kabul River beside the Shah-do Shamshira bridge in the centre of the city. It was built in the 1920s under Amanullah Khan in a European manner unusual for Afghan religious architecture, with stucco moulding, tiered facades and two minarets modelled on the Ortakoy Mosque in Istanbul. The name translates as the King of Two Swords and goes back to a legend about an Arab commander who fell during the conquest of Kabul. The square in front of the mosque is a well-known place where people feed the pigeons.

On the map