Paris 15th Mosque

Paris 15th Mosque is a prayer room in the southern part of the 15th arrondissement, between the Convention and Vaugirard districts. The 15th is one of the largest and most populated arrondissements of Paris, mostly residential, and Muslim places of worship there are few compared to the population. This mosque plays a quiet but useful role for the local worshippers.

Getting there

Convention station (line 12) is a few minutes on foot. Porte de Versailles, at the crossing of line 12 and tramway T3a, is under fifteen minutes away. Vaugirard (line 12) and Volontaires (line 12) also serve the district. Buses 39 and 62 cross the southern 15th, and 89 links Montparnasse station to Porte de la Plaine. Tramway T3a runs along the southern edge of the arrondissement, useful for worshippers coming in from Malakoff or Vanves. Vélib' stations line Rue de la Convention and Rue Lecourbe.

The quiet 15th

The 15th stretches from the Eiffel Tower to Parc André-Citroën, from Boulevard Pasteur to the Seine. It is a mostly residential arrondissement, marked by 1970s urbanism in its western part and a more classical Haussmann fabric in the east. The commercial spine of Rue de Vaugirard, the longest street in Paris, shapes daily life. The Muslim population there is scattered, without the concentrations found in the 18th or the 19th, which explains the relative scarcity of places of worship.

A mosque of the 15th

Unlike the mosques of north-eastern Paris, Paris 15th Mosque does not stand in a dense commercial and community fabric. It is used by worshippers who live in the district or work there, finding a nearby place of prayer without having to cross the city. Friday sermons and Ramadan night prayers bring together the local community, more scattered than elsewhere but real all the same.

Practical advice for a visit

The prayer room opens around the five daily prayers. Friday noon remains the busiest slot. Outside those times, the door may be closed. For a first look, come a little before Dhuhr or Asr on a weekday.

As in any working mosque, shoes come off at the entrance, clothes should cover shoulders and legs, women cover their hair, and quiet is expected. Sightseeing is out of place: this is a place of worship used by its congregation.

Around the mosque

Parc Georges-Brassens, fifteen minutes on foot, sits on the site of the former Vaugirard slaughterhouses: one of the most pleasant parks in the 15th, with a weekend second-hand book market under the old horse market hall. Parc André-Citroën, further west, offers vast lawns and the tethered Paris balloon rising to one hundred and fifty metres. The former Petite Ceinture rail line, turned into a walking path, connects the district to its neighbours.

Other mosques in Paris

The 15th has only a few identified mosques, in contrast with the density of places of worship in north-eastern Paris. The Grand Mosque of Paris, in the neighbouring 5th across the Seine, remains the main institutional landmark. Adda'Wa Mosque in the 19th, Omar bn El Khattab Mosque in the 11th and Nour Mosque in the 12th round out the picture of this directory, which will grow over time.