Nikolai Vasilyev designed the mosque, with Stepan Krichinsky as engineer and Alexander von Hohen supervising construction. The cornerstone was laid on February 3, 1910, and construction was completed by 1921. Abdul Ahad Khan, Emir of Bukhara, was the largest donor and covered all building expenses.
The architect patterned the mosque after Gur-e-Amir, Timur's tomb in Samarkand. The article calls the style Timurid with modern influence. The dome is 128 feet (39 m) high, and the two minarets are each 161 feet (49 m) high. Sky blue mosaic ceramics made by Peter Vaulin's workshop in Kikerino cover the dome and minarets. It holds up to 5,000 worshippers.
In 1940 Soviet authorities banned services and turned the building into a medical equipment storehouse. The mosque reopened in 1956, and a major restoration was carried out in 1980. It stands in downtown Saint Petersburg, opposite the Peter and Paul Fortress.
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