St Petersburg's Congressional Mosque was once the largest mosque in Europe (excluding Turkey), but now it is not even the largest in Russia since the construction of the Heart of Chechnya Mosque in Grozny. Nevertheless it is still an impressive building, beautifully decorated with colourful tiles, reminiscent of the great mosques on the silk road in Uzbekistan. The was built between 1910 and 1920 after the mufti of Orenburg obtained the approval for such from the government. The biggest donor behind the project was Emir Said Abd al-Ahad Khan of Bukhara, who died shortly after construction began. The mosque shared the same fate as many orthodox churches during the Soviet era and was closed in 1927. However it was reopened for worship in 1956.