Diyanet Center of America:
It was a pleasure for me and my family to visit Diyanet Center of America. We were astonished by the beauty of this Mosque. The architecture, the fine art, the Arabic calligraphy, and the wonderful community.
I saw it online couple weeks before our visit,but I was not expecting an enormous beautiful Mosque and Islamic center. Which led me to make some research and know more about it.
Diyanet Center of America is a Turkish American Community Center (TACC), a non-profit organization located in Lanham, Maryland. The community center was established in 1993 by a group of Turkish-Americans to provide religious, social and educational services to Turkish immigrants and Muslims living in the United States of America.
At the Mosque, an open, enlarged, single interior space is achieved by the use of a half dome on the qibla-side of the central dome and five small dimes on each of the other three sides. The weight of the dome is transferred equally on four pillars as in traditional Ottoman architecture. The large and small domes are supported by arches, again in conformity with traditional architecture. Each of the four marble columns are brought from a different city in Turkey (Istanbul, Eskisehir, Afyonkarahisar, and Tokat). This large space accommodates up to 760 people. 
The mosque has two minarets each of which has two galleries. It has the distinction of being the only mosque in North America with two minarets.
The interior of the mosque traditional motifs are used. In order to add further grandeur, gold leaf technique has been used over Arabic calligraphy. The mosque, which is the most important structure in the project, covers 1879 square meters.
I was so excited to introduce my kids, especially my son who is four years old and curious to the history of Muslim architecture and Calligraphy. Talking about Calligraphy, Turks used Arabic alphabet for approximately one thousand years until the foundation of the Republic of Turkey and the adoption of Latin alphabet in 1928. Creativity led them to modify this type of writing in various ways and turn it into a fine art. Istanbul, the center of the Ottoman Empire, is the place where the most mature and most beautiful samples of the art of Calligraphy were produced.
Surrounding the mosque, you will find the Cultural Center that can accommodate educational activities, including conferences, seminars, and lectures. 
In the cultural center, there is an exhibition room designed for artistic and cultural activities.
The Art Studio where traditional Turkish Islamic arts can be thought. We didn’t have time to visit the library and other places, but we will definitely go back inshaAllah.
Elhamdoulillah, we prayed Asr and Maghreb at the mosque, the Muslim community was very welcoming. My daughter who is a toddler was moving around and distracted me from praying, so one of the ladies volunteered and she kept my daughter busy playing with her while I was praying. Other women did not hesitate and introduced themselves to me, and of course after the prayers my kids had a good time and company and played with other kids.
Our journey was amazing elhamdoulillah , and I definitely recommend to stop by Diyanet Center at least once in your lifetime.
Carolina Mom 