Grozny: the rebirth of the Chechen capital

Almost entirely rebuilt after the wars of the Nineties, Grozny today holds one of Europe's largest mosques.

The center, rebuilt on wide avenues, is visited comfortably by car.

The Heart of Chechnya Mosque, among Europe's largest, dominates the capital's skyline with its illuminated minarets in the evening.

A few minutes away, Grozny City Tower, a complex of modern skyscrapers with panoramic pools atop the towers, symbolizes the city's reconstruction after wartime destruction.

Continuing along Putin Avenue, one observes the reconstructed government buildings according to an entirely new urban master plan developed after the 2000s.

Toward evening, the Sunzha riverfront animates evening walks with views of the illuminated towers of the center, among Russia's most photographed.

Grozny, nearly completely flattened during the two Chechen wars of the nineteen-nineties and two-thousands, was rebuilt in record time starting from two thousand three thanks to substantial Russian state and local investments.

The Heart of Chechnya Mosque, inaugurated in two thousand eight, can simultaneously accommodate ten thousand worshippers and remains an important symbol of the city's architectural and urban renaissance.