Plots of land in Reykjavík have been established for the Russian Orthodox church, and for a mosque.
Eyjan reports that although both Orthodox Christians and Muslims number in the hundreds in Iceland, neither one have a formal house of worship. Both have long sought approval from the city for a plot of land, upon which they would build their own houses of worship with their own money.
The plot of land for the Orthodox church will be on Mýrargata, near the harbour, while the plot for the mosque will be at Sogamýri.
An agreement between representatives of the Orthodox community and the city for the plot was signed last week. The church is expected to be built over the next two years.
The planning committee for the city also expressed the willingness to allow Iceland’s Muslims to build a mosque at Sogamýri. A temple for the Jehovah’s Witnesses once stood on the same property.
Muslims in Iceland have been struggling for approval for a plot of land to build a mosque for at least the past ten years. City councils on both the left and right have both failed to approve the idea.
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