Rabat - King Mohammed VI donated €30,000 for the construction of a new mosque in Amsterdam during his ongoing stay in the Netherlands’ capital city, according to a Facebook post Tuesday by a community leader in charge of the development of the new Islamic center of worship.

Rabat – King Mohammed VI donated €30,000 for the construction of a new mosque in Amsterdam during his ongoing stay in the Netherlands’ capital city, according to a Facebook post Tuesday by a community leader in charge of the development of the new Islamic center of worship.

The construction of the Al Ihsane mosque – located in a neighborhood of Amsterdam called Geuzenveld, or Garden City, – began late last year, according to Het Parool, a Dutch news source. Once the building is complete, it will cover an area of 1,600 square meters, be 11 meters high and include a roof terrace for visitors to enjoy.

The community members supporting the mosque are financing construction costs through a number of donation drives. To cover all of the expenses involved, they must raise 600,000 euros in addition to the king’s donation and revenues from previous fundraising efforts.

The Moroccan monarch arrived in Amsterdam last Friday for a private visit to the European country – home to a significant Moroccan diaspora population. According to Dutch news channel AT5, his visit, which has been filled with photo opportunities for Dutchmen and Dutch-Moroccans alike, is expected to end on Wednesday.

The king is known to support the development of Islamic communities all over the world through the establishment of institutes dedicated to the training of imaams, the building of mosques in other parts of Africa, and additional capacity-building initiatives.