The first government-funded mosque in Athens has opened its doors to worshippers after years of delays. Friday prayers held at the mosque were attended by a limited number of people due to the current COVID-19 restrictions.

The project to open the mosque in Athens, the only European capital without one, was launched in 2007. It faced major delays due to red tape, cutbacks and opposition from religious and political factions.

The country's parliament eventually approved its construction in August 2016. The mosque was completed in 2019 but its opening was delayed yet again in recent months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It can accommodate up to 350 people but under the current circumstances only around 10 people at a time are permitted to pray in the mosque, the country's Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs said.

Some 650,000 Muslims live in Greece, the majority in Athens. Most of them are migrants who have arrived in the country over the last 20 years. Members of Athens' Muslim community have welcomed the opening of the mosque. The city will "finally have a place of worship for its Muslim inhabitants," said Naim el Gadour, the president of the Muslim Union of Greece. 

The mosque, which is located in Elaionas, a former industrial district, is the first to operate officially in Athens since the country's war for independence from the Ottomans in 1821.

Over the years, Muslims in Athens had been using several makeshift mosques in Athens apartments, basements and even sheds, which sometimes led to tension and protests from other local residents. The state tried to regulate these premises by granting operating permits.

"All this time we have been praying underground. This is a great day for us," said Anna Stamou, a representative of the Muslim Association of Greece. "It will not provide the services for everybody, we already know that. But this is a good start."