"In 1992 Sultan Qaboos directed that his country of Oman should have a Grand Mosque. A competition for its design took place in 1993 and after a site was chosen at Bausher construction commenced in December 1994. Building work, which was undertaken by Carillion Alawi took six years and seven months. The mix of Middle East and Oriental architecture makes it to one of the most extravagant and modern mosques around the world."

After spending the New Years Eve in Muscat without any kind of celebration I was super motivated and fit on the 01.01.2019 to walk to one of the most exciting buildings in Oman. It was around 08:00 AM when I finished my breakfast and started my 1h walk to the Sultan Qaboos Mosque of Muscat.

Location

The Mosque is located around the center of Muscat. It's in walkable distance from pretty much all apartments/hotels around the city. "Well, If you can stand the heat ;)"

Facts about the Mosque

The mosque used to have the world’s largest carpet and chandelier (The United Emirates and Qatar took this record away a few years ago)
In the center of the men's prayer hall is a chandelier which measures a staggering 14 meters and a total weight of 8.5 tons. It holds 600,000 shining bright Swarovski crystals, 24 carat gold plating and took more than four years to complete.
It is also open for Non-Muslim visitors (Just make sure to wear long clothes and of course - a respectful behavior.)
Inside the Mosque you can find a library which hold more than 20.000 Books.
The area has a size of over 416,000 square meters and can hold up to 20.000 people
The main building was made by 300.000 tons of sandstone

Visit Time

Non-Muslims can come to visit the Grand Mosque from 8Am to 11Mm from Saturday - Thursday. The library is open from 9:00Am - 2:00 Pm and 4:00Pm - 9:00Pm Saturday to Wednesday (on Thursday the library is open in the morning only.)

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

It did not take me long to see the outside of the Mosque while walking through Muscat. The size (90m high - 416.000 Sm) of the entire complex was so massive that I'm pretty sure that you can see it from space. That's how big it is. DSC_4910-5

Let's have a deeper look inside. The Mosque has 4 main sections:

main prayer hall
women prayer hall
library
lecture theater

"Don't miss all the incredible pattern and handmade highlights all over the mosque. Every single wall, the outside of the buildings and even the floor is full with details. You really can see that there was a lot of work involved."

As you can see on all the reflections around the building - It was hot! Even it was in the morning time the sun was already awake and full of power ;) As I mentioned earlier in this report - There is this gigantic chandelier inside which measures a staggering 14 meters and a total weight of 8.5 tons. It holds 600,000 shining bright Swarovski crystals, 24 carat gold plating and took more than four years to complete. Let's have a look at it! DSC_4881-3

Staying right under this gigantic chandelier was pretty impressive! Also those colorful windows on top and all that different pattern were something I haven't seen before. Stunning!

I hope you enjoyed this little walk with me through this fascinating building. I highly recommend you to visit the Mosque whenever you are in Muscat. It's free and absolutely worth it.

Thanks for joining this little virtual trip with me :) Best, Chris

Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://world-capture.com/2019/01/19/259/

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