The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1922-10-09
ISLAM RELIGION
GAINS FOOTHOLD
ON PARIS SITE
Muhammadans Begin Erection
of Church on Ground of
Ancient la Pitie.

PARIS, Oct. 9.-In March last the
first stroke o fthe pickax was given
in the terrain destined to the erection
Of the Paris mosque Shafts have
been driven at the Bottom Of which
REINFORCED concrete has been cast
They are the basis of the future sane.
tuary Of Islam. However much one
may deprecate this French encourage
ment of Muhammadanism as a relig-
ion, one cannot but register it as a
somewhat significant fact. Once Mar
shall Lyautey has laid the foundation
stone the construction will be speeded
up. 1t is TO be erected on the ground
OF the old hospital of La Pitie the
place OF refuge which sprang from a
beau geste of Louis XIII. 1t was in
1912 that buildings and gardens of the
Saint Victor quarter were acquired
by order OF the King and reunited
under the name Of Notre-Dame-de-
Pitie. 1t was to give shelter to beg
CARS, old people without resources
all the poor who were to be found
in the city. The old ediace. after hav-
ing gone through various kinds Of re-
pairs and engagements, was used as
a hospital until 1912, when a new
Pitie was built and inaugurated by
Raymond Polncare.
Eface Old Church
After three centuries these vestiges
Of the first steps toward charity in
France have been effaced. Nothing
remain of the old stones laden with
history. In a short time the Jardln
des Plantes district will have no rem
~iniscences Of the past. To the altera-
lions adm embellishments 1t has gone
through during the last twenty-five
| years will be added the mosque
The mosque, completed by its mai
son des hotes, it's hammarn. It's min
aret. its patio, It's gardens, ablution
room. its prayer room. the h~abttation
Of the Mutt and that OF the Imam
will put a luminous green and white
spot in that rather dreary and I'M
attractive quarter. The mosque will
be Partisan only in it's frame. BY its
style. its destination, its guests, It
will be a place full Of the Muham'
MADAM spirit. From the terrace OF the
mfnaret which rises twenty-six yards
above the ground the muezzin VIII
call the worshippers. TO prayer. The
architecture, the gardens with foun-
tafns and basins. the halls with
f~rescoes and carpets and mosaics, tho
f~acinRs and ceramics-all the details
will be essentially Arabian. Decora-
tors from Fee. Mecknes, Marrakech.
where the traditions and the tech
nioue of arabesques are kept free
from any foreign influence. will be
called upon TO decorate the mosque.
Fifty-six columns Of cedar wood Will
| support the cupola Of the praper-
room. C~loakrooms will be provided
where the Muhammadans in European
clothes will he able to dress In ritual
vesture. The Mirbad. where the
Imam stays, has been oriented toward
Mecca.
viii Admit Parisians
The Parisians will be admitted in
the maison des hotes and treated to
the veritable Arabian cooking in an
Arabian decor and among the white
burnous-clad Orientals.
Morocco. through the intermediary
Of the Resident General Marshal
Lyautey has contributed S,0o0,0 900
francs while Tunisia has offered l.
200. 900 francs. In 1920. 500, 900
francs have been put at the disposal
of the Societe des Habous des Lieux
Saints for the foundation Of the
Musulman Institute and the Paris
p,osoua The Muuicipal Council OF
Paris has made a present Of the ter
rain on which the mosque is to be
erected.