Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque

A small, unusually un-mosque-like building on the north bank of the Kabul river — pale-yellow stucco, ornate window frames, and an Italianate roofline that looks transplanted from a European spa town. It was built in the 1920s on the site of an older shrine commemorating a seventh-century Arab commander who reputedly kept fighting after losing both his hands (the name means "King of Two Swords"), and the older shrine and graves are inside.

You cannot usually go in unless you are a Muslim worshipper, but the exterior is worth looking at — the riverside square in front of it is one of the few open spaces in central Kabul, and a good place to read the city's mix of architectural influences off the buildings.

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