Log pod Mangartom Mosque

The Log pod Mangartom Mosque (Slovene: Džamija v Logu pod Mangartom) was a Sunni mosque that stood from 1916 until the 1920s near the village of Log pod Mangartom in Carniola, Austria-Hungary, in the area of what is now the Municipality of Bovec in northwestern Slovenia.^[1] It was the first mosque to be purpose-built until 2013 in the territory of Slovenia, although one converted out of a pre-existing building has functioned in the town of Jesenice since 1989.

History

The mosque was built by Bosniak members of the Austro-Hungarian army serving on the Isonzo (Soča) Front of World War I. For their religious needs, the military authorities permitted them to erect a small mosque in November 1916. The building was mostly built of cut stone, with a carved wooden porch, a domed roof, and a square minaret, and was surrounded by a stone wall and gated iron fence. An area near the mosque was designated the Log pod Mangartom Military Cemetery, where fallen Austro-Hungarian soldiers of all faiths were buried.

At the end of World War I, the Bosnian Muslim troops returned home and left the mosque untended. Italy, which subsequently occupied the area, demolished the decaying building some years later. The only surviving record of its existence are six photos preserved by local citizens.^[2]