Sweden wants to build an ice mosque

Each year outside the Arctic Circle in Sweden near the town of Jukkasjärvi appears the world famous attraction - the ice hotel. Tons of snow and ice from the nearby Torne River is regularly used to create the grand ice building.

In previous years along with the ice hotel the authors of the project built an ice church. This time the creators of the Ice Hotel seriously consider the possibility to build an ice mosque in addition to the church.

The ice church each year is built near the ice hotel and then is given to the Church of Sweden. During the all the years of building the church it was visited by thousands of tourists. Here were held wedding ceremonies of 150 couples.

The Local reports that, according to the head of the Ice Hotel project Yngve Bergqvist, construction of the ice mosque next to the church will be another evidence of the ice resort openness to all religions on the planet.

Located 125 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, the Ice Hotel annually receives many tourists from all over the world. Here come almost 90 nationalities of the world. According to Yngve Bergqvist, among the tourists there are also guests from Saudi Arabia. So, the opening of the mosque can be an interesting idea in terms of attracting additional tourists from the Middle Eastern states.

One way or another, creators of the ice hotel say that are unlikely to succeed in building the ice mosque this season. According to Camilla Bondareva, the hotel's spokesman, mosque building is now at an early stage of planning and designing. According to Bergqvist, the mosque will appear only next year.

It should be noted that the ice mosque, as well as the ice church, will operate on a temporary basis from 23 December to the late April.

Ice Hotel was first built in 1990 in Lapland. The hotel received its first guests in 1992. Today the concept of ice hotels is widely spread across the globe. It can be found at ski resorts in Switzerland, Andorra, Slovenia and other countries.