The Great Mosque of Algiers (Djamaa El Djazair), which took seven years to build and more than $1 billion in expenses, will be breaking records now that it’s complete.

It’s officially the largest mosque in Africa, and the third largest in the world.

The two largest mosques are The Sacred Mosque of Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. Both are considered the holiest sites in Islam, and are visited by millions of Muslim worshippers and pilgrims every year, reports Quartz.

The Great Mosque of Algiers, or Djamaa El Djazair, sits on an area of 400,000 square meters and has a 265 meter (870 feet) minaret that houses observation decks.

The compound’s domed sanctuary and outside courtyard overlooking the Bay of Algiers can house up to 120,000 worshippers and has an underground parking space with a capacity of 7,000 cars.

The mosque compound also houses a Koranic school, a library, a restaurant, an amphitheatre, and a research centre dedicated to the history of Algeria.

The Algiers mosque also takes the lead as having Africa’s tallest minaret, relegating the 670-feet tower of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco to a second place.

The mosque was built by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), a huge multinational that is involved in building heavy industry and infrastructure in Africa and across the world.

The project might also have presented a moral quandary for the Chinese state-backed CSCEC. Over the past year, Beijing has been accused of marginalizing, detaining, and tracking its own Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang province.

Yet for all the fanfare around the Great Mosque, the man who financed the ambitious project will not be there to see it fully open.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned early April amid discontent that his administration spent millions on vanity projects—including on mega structures like the Great Mosque—that diverted public money from creating employment and sustainable growth.

So not without controversy then.

It’s still an impressive feat of engineering and architecture.

[source:quartz]