Shah-e Doh Shamshira Mosque

Kabul

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Called the 'Mosque of the King of Two Swords', the Shah-e Doh Shamshira Mosque on Kabul river must be one of the most unusual in Islam. Built in the 1920s during Amanullah's drive for modernisation, it looks like it would be more at home in Versailles or Vienna. The facades are all Italianate baroque with stucco detailing, picked out in white against a lurid lemon yellow paint-job. That it has two storeys is even more peculiar, and only the tiny minarets disclose the building's true purpose.

The mosque's name is derived from a far older story than Amanullah's strange architectural tastes. In the 7th century Kabul was a Hindu city, besieged by an Arab army. The Arab king was beheaded, but was so inspired by Allah that he continued fighting, leading his men to victory at the point of his two scimitars.

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