Jamek Mosque is one of the oldest mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

s in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

, Malaysia. It is located at the confluence of the Klang

Klang River

Klang River is a river which flows through Kuala Lumpur and Selangor in Malaysia and eventually flows into the Straits of Malacca. It is approximately 120 km in length and drains a basin of about 1288 square kilometres...

 and Gombak River

Gombak River

The Gombak River is a river which flows through Selangor and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. It is a tributary of the Klang River. The point where it meets the Klang River is the origin of Kuala Lumpur's name....

 and was designed by Arthur Benison Hubback.

History

The Sultan of Selangor

Selangor

Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...

 officially opened the mosque in 1909, two years after construction was completed. The mosque was built on the first Malay

Malay people

Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...

 burial ground in the city. Before the national mosque, Masjid Negara

Masjid Negara

The National Mosque of Malaysia is located in Kuala Lumpur. It has a capacity of 15,000 people and is situated among of beautiful gardens. The original structure was designed by a three-person team from the Public Works Department - UK architect Howard Ashley, and Malaysians Hisham Albakri and...

, was opened in 1965, Masjid Jamek served as Kuala Lumpur's main mosque.

Features

The mosque has a Moorish

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 architecture. Across the Gombak River stands the Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

The Sultan Abdul Samad Building is located in front of the Dataran Merdeka and the Royal Selangor Club, by Jalan Raja in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...

, a building that was designed by the same architect and shares a similar style.

Nearby is the Masjid Jamek LRT station

Masjid Jamek LRT station

Masjid Jamek LRT station is a rapid transit station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the interchange station between two of RapidKL's light rail transit lines, namely the Ampang Line and the Kelana Jaya Line...

 that is served by the Kelana Jaya Line

Kelana Jaya Line

The Kelana Jaya Line is a medium-capacity rail transport system and one of the three rail transit lines in the Kuala Lumpur Rail Transit System operated by RapidKL Rail network...

, Sri Petaling Line and Ampang Line

Ampang Line

The Ampang Line is one of the two lines in Kuala Lumpur Rail Transit System network operated by RapidKL Rail network. The other rail network is the Kelana Jaya Line....

. The station is located between Chinatown

Chinatown

A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...

 and Little India; Dataran Merdeka

Dataran Merdeka

Merdeka Square is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is situated in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It was here the Union Flag was lowered and the Malayan flag hoisted for the first time at midnight on August 31, 1957...

is also nearby.