The Votanikos Mosque or Athens New Mosque is a mosque project for the Votanikos neighbourhood of Athens. When finished in April 2017, it will be the first purpose-built mosque in the Greek capital since the Greek War of Independence. There are already mosques from Ottoman times in Athens like the Tzistarakis Mosque and the Fethiye Mosque but they function as archaeological monuments nowadays. The project has been repeatedly delayed because of the opposition from the powerful Greek Orthodox Church and - in recent times - civil protests. The first law passed by the Greek Parliament about constructing a ″Turkish mosque″ in the Athens area was in 1890. In 1970, conservative Arab countries offered the funding of a mosque in Athens but neither the law nor the proposal were realized. Increased immigration from Muslim countries in recent decades has made the establishment more urgent—about 200,000 Muslims live in the Athens area, many of whom are Pakistani and Albanians—but until recently no official mosque building. The first attempt to establish a mosque in Athens dates to Law 2833 in 2000, which envisaged its establishment at Hourmouza in Paiania, and was intended to be financed by Saudi Arabia. Due to the reaction of the Church and the locals, the project stalled. In 2006, the effort was resumed with Law 3512, but with major modifications: it was decided that the construction would be financed solely by the Greek state, which would retain complete control over the mosque and appoint its imam. The project was repeatedly delayed due to judicial actions by various groups, which went all the way to the Council of State, and the fact that four successive public tenders received no interest from contractors. The fifth tender was finally successful, and was given to a consortium comprising four of Greece's biggest construction firms—J&P ABAX, TERNA, AKTOR, and Intrakat. The contract for the construction was signed on 10 October 2016. The location had to be cleared by the police first, as it was occupied by far-right protesters, but construction began on 4 November. The site, with a total surface of 17 stremmata, was handed over by the Hellenic Navy. Existing structures are to be torn down, and a new complex, including parking space and a children's playground, will be built in its place. The mosque itself will cover an area of 1,000 m2 and comprise two areas of worship, one for men with a capacity for 500, and one for women, with a capacity of 50. The mosque will not feature a minaret. Completion of the work is expected at the end of April 2017. The mosque will be financed by the Greek state, without any outside financial support. The budget is 887,000 Euros. In addition to the new mosque, the Greek government has given formal license to three mosques established privately by Muslim communities in Attica and one in Thebes.
