Mayotte: the oldest mosque in France dates back to the 13th century

The Tsingoni mosque, in Mayotte, is even older than previously thought. According to Le Monde, which reports the results of new archaeological excavations carried out by Inrap, carbon-14 dating dates certain parts of the site to the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. Long dating from the 16th century, the building is considered the oldest mosque in France still in activity. These discoveries testify to the antiquity of the Muslim presence in Mayotte, several centuries before the archipelago was annexed to France.

This discovery also reminds us that the history of Islam in the territories that are now French does not begin with immigration in the 20th century. In Mayotte, it is part of a much older history, linked to trade in the Indian Ocean and the own history of the archipelago. It also allows us to look at part of French history differently. French Muslim heritage is often presented as recent, while certain territories tell a much older reality. The Tsingoni mosque is today one of the strongest testimonies.

A little-known page of Muslim heritage and French history.