ALGIERS-On Friday morning, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, toured the beautiful spaces -under roof or outdoors- of the Great Mosque of Algiers, and wrote about the book offered there to the visitor:
"For the Cuban delegation that I preside is an honor and great satisfaction to visit this sacred place where we can appreciate the historical and cultural richness of Algeria. It is a beautiful place that allows us to feel in an atmosphere of freedom, peace, harmony and beauty".
The dignitary, who made the tour with his wife Lis Cuesta Peraza, and accompanied by the high-level delegation that since November 16 is making an official visit to the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, stamped on the sheet, in addition, the idea that it has been "a longing to visit this country to which we are united by historical and deep ties of friendship, brotherhood and solidarity"; and highlighted the fact of doing so precisely in the year in which both nations commemorate the 60th anniversary "of the establishment of relations, which are an example of respect, mutual help, cooperation and solidarity".
The Head of State expressed in the final lines: "We visited this site the day after having held an important agenda of official conversations that open a new stage in our bilateral relations. Thank you for your attentions. Algeria can always count on Cuba. A hug.
At the Great Mosque of Algiers, also known as Djamaa el Djazaïr, whose minaret is the tallest in the world, the dignitary was hosted by the Rector of that cultural-religious complex, Mohamed Mamoune El-Kacimi El-Housseini, who explained to the President that the place represents Algeria, its history, its cultural legacy, its traditions, its culture, and contains the traditional mixed with the contemporary.
The Rector was emphatic in his welcoming gesture, and made explicit his gratitude "to His Excellency and to the delegation accompanying him, as well as the joy we feel at your visit today to this institution". Mohamed Mamoune El-Kacimi El-Housseini wanted to take advantage of the "pleasant occasion to highlight the magnificent relations between Algeria and Cuba".
The Rector of the Grand Mosque described these ties as very old, and also said that, with the visit of these days, they "are strengthened and tightened even more". The host also wanted to thank "Cuba's worthy positions at the international level", the positions adopted by the Caribbean country within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement, and in support of the liberation struggles.
Mohamed Mamoune El-Kacimi El-Housseini emphasized the "collaboration that has traditionally existed between Cuba and Algeria, especially in the field of Health, in which they have been providing services to us for decades; a beautiful collaboration". He then wished the Cuban President "a very happy stay" in the Maghreb nation, as well as the wish that the Head of State's stay here will not be the last: "We would like to see him again, said the Rector, in this beautiful place, and at any other time".
The Rector's words were the prelude to the tour of the dignitary and those who accompanied him through the precincts of the third largest mosque in the Islamic world, and the largest in Africa.
All the spaces are beautiful in this cultural, religious and tourist complex, which consists of twelve buildings, spread over an area of 30 hectares. The President was invited to visit the Prayer Hall and listened to detailed explanations about the Great Mosque, which has, among other qualities, a large conference hall that can accommodate 1,500 participants, as well as a library designed to hold one million books.
The exterior gardens, the water of the fountains, the motifs interwoven on the marble, the trees planted there and whose species are referenced in texts of the Islamic religion, the carpets made with ancestral techniques, everything was observed by the visiting delegation. And they all reached the top level of the minaret -more than 260 meters high- and from there it was possible to see the beauty of a city of light shades, touched by the waters of the Mediterranean.
"You also have to go to Cuba", said President Diaz-Canel Bermudez to his hosts, as he said goodbye to the Great Mosque, who shortly after having been in such a beautiful place wrote on his Twitter account: "We visited the Great Mosque of Algiers, an impressive place. We were received with the same affection we have felt since we arrived in this sister nation. It was an honor for our delegation to be in that sacred place."