Built in 1930, the Red Mosque of Fréjus is a replica of the "Missiri" mosque in Djenné, Mali.
Built by the Senegalese riflemen, this prestigious monument, built in response to the pagoda, also in Fréjus, was for them an object of pride, with the aim of recreating an atmosphere that would heal the "homesickness".
On the initiative of General Gallieni, then governor of Paris, Fréjus welcomed the first contingents recruited overseas in 1915 and became a transition site for these soldiers, allowing them to acclimatise before their departure for the front. Military camps and hospitals were then built to accommodate the African and Indochinese troops.
After the war, not all were repatriated. To combat homesickness, the Senegalese riflemen tried to recreate a familiar environment: in 1928, following the example of their comrades-in-arms, the Indochinese riflemen, who had built a pagoda as early as 1917, they built a mosque in the Caïs camp on the Bagnols-en-Foret road, an operation initiated by Captain Abdel Kader Mademba.
This mosque will be more a symbolic building than a real place of worship, just a decoration! The environment of the mosque was even adorned with African huts and false termite mounds, very realistic ... In 1987, the mosque is listed in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments.
Property of the Ministry of Defense, this monument visible from the outside, is open to the public from July 1st to the 3rd weekend of September.
Mosquée de Fréjus,
Rue Marcel Pagnol,
83600 Fréjus
Tél. : 09 80 80 91 18
https://frejus.fr/decouverte/la-mosquee-missiri/
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