Akila Apart City 
Between the Jardin des Plantes and rue Monge, a white wall and a square minaret. People come for the tea room and stay for the patio. But the building was put up for a specific reason, and it is written on the façade.
Why it is there
During the First World War hundreds of thousands of soldiers from North and West Africa fought in the French army. Tens of thousands died, many of them Muslim.
After the war the long-standing idea of a Muslim place of worship in Paris found a decisive argument: it would be an act of recognition. A law of 1920 voted a subsidy for the construction of a Muslim institute. Work began in 1922 and the mosque was inaugurated in 1926.
The building is therefore a place of worship, a memorial and a political gesture by a colonial empire towards its subjects, all at once. The three dimensions are inseparable, and all three are still argued over.
A piece of North Africa in the 5th
The architecture is explicitly Hispano-Moorish, modelled on the Quaraouiyine mosque in Fez. Craftsmen came from North Africa for the zellige tilework, the carved stucco and the hand-painted cedar ceilings.
The minaret, square, rises thirty-three metres. It is not used for the call to prayer, which is not broadcast outside, but it is visible from a distance in a low-rise quarter.
The patio is the heart of the place: a galleried courtyard, a basin, horseshoe arches, mosaic from floor to ceiling. It was designed for coolness and for silence, and it still produces both, fifty metres from a busy street.
The garden, further in, is greener and less walked, with fountains and fig trees.
Under the Occupation
A story circulates about the mosque's role between 1940 and 1944: that Jews were hidden there, and certificates of Muslim faith issued to protect them from checks.
Precision matters here, because the subject has been heavily romanticised. That the mosque served as a refuge and a relay, that papers were provided to people in danger, that résistants found shelter there: consistent testimony establishes this, and the rector of the time, Si Kaddour Benghabrit, is recognised for his part in it. The numbers put forward, however, vary enormously from source to source, from a few dozen to more than a thousand, and none is solidly documented. Historians remain cautious.
What is certain is that the building played a part, and that the part went long untold.
The visit, the hammam and the tea
The mosque can be visited outside prayer times, with a ticket. You walk the patio, the galleries and the garden; the prayer hall is not open to visitors. Modest dress is expected, with shoulders and legs covered.
The hammam, through a separate entrance, runs on alternate days for women and men. It is a traditional hammam, with hot rooms, scrubbing and rest, not a spa.
The tea room has its own entrance on rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire and needs no ticket. You drink mint tea under the fig trees with honey pastries, among a thoroughly mixed crowd of students, visitors and regulars. In fine weather it is one of the most agreeable terraces in Paris.
Days and hours for the hammam and the visit change. Check before travelling, particularly during Ramadan and religious holidays.
Frequently asked questions
Can you visit the Grande Mosquée de Paris?
Yes, the patio, galleries and garden can be visited with a ticket, outside prayer times. The prayer hall is not open to visitors.
Do you need a ticket for the tea room?
No. It has its own entrance on rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire and requires no visit ticket.
When was the mosque built?
Work began in 1922 and it was inaugurated in 1926, following a 1920 law voting a subsidy, in tribute to the Muslim soldiers who died in the First World War.
Is the hammam mixed?
No. It runs on alternate days for women and men. The days vary, so check before coming.