The Grand Mosque in Makhachkala (Yusuf Bei Cami) is the main mosque of the Republic of Dagestan. It is supposed to have been patterned after the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul. The building can accommodate up to 17,000 worshipers. Its construction was financed by Turkey. The mosque was completed and consecrated in 1998. It is the focal point of the city's main thoroughfare, Imam Shamil Avenue.