Hello buddies ,
Yesterday I wrote my first post and put a pic from where I do live now , but I figured out that you need to know something about another city before I start writing about Dubai and the rest of the topics .
I moved to UAE 6 years ago , and I was living in Abu Dhabi before I move to Dubai .
If you plan to visit this country one day I believe this is one of the places you have to put in your schedule to go !
Its Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque or in arabic ( Jamea' Al Sheikh Zayed Al Kabeer ), its one of the amazing constructions that show the Islamic architectures and arts.
Abu Dhabi (the capital of UAE) hosts the third largest mosque in the world - after the ones in Mecca and Madina in Saudi Arabia.
It is named after the founder and first President of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He chose the location and took substantial influence on the architecture and the design of the mosque. Based on his vision, the mosque was built with the rise of 11m above sea level, and 9.5m above the street level so that it is clearly visible from all directions.
It is built as a monument to consolidate Islamic culture and a prominent centre for Islamic sciences.According to his wish, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is also the last resting place of its name giver, who passed away in 2004.
- The complex covers an area of 22,412 m2
- 33,000 tons of steel and 250,000 m3 of concrete were used. They lay on 6,500 foundation piles
- The courtyard has a total of 1,048 columns
- A total of 82 domes belong to the mosque
- The main dome is the largest mosque dome in the world: 85m high with a diameter of 32.8m.
- Some 41,000 worshipers can be accommodated in the mosque, 7,126 in the main prayer hall.
After the first phase involving foundations and the concrete structure, the mosque was finished with a decoration of Greek and Italian white marble, which is considered to be among the purest of the world.
For the interior design, calligraphers from the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Jordan supervised the work of artists from all over the world. Verses from the Holy Quran are written in three types of Arabic calligraphy.The mosque's spectacularly decorated interior features unique plants designed specifically for the mosque, as well as verses from the Holly Quran.
In addition, the designers have also used mosaic to cover the entire courtyard (17,000 square metres) and thus it is considered among the largest open spaces in mosques worldwide.Major international companies specialized in the manufacturing of crystal chandeliers garnished the mosque with seven gold-plated chandeliers in different sizes, made of Swarovski crystals. The largest of the lustres is the largest in the world.
Another astonishing feature of the mosque is the over 5,625 m2 large carpet in the main prayer hall.
It has been hand-knotted by about 1,300 Iranian craftsmen out of 35 tons of wool and 12 tons of cotton. With a total of 2,268,00 knots, the carpet is the largest in the world. Its estimated value is about 30 million.
Many tourists muslims and non-muslims come to the mosque every day morning or night time to see how amazing this building is !
It has the fantastic Andalusian style , it will be a breath taking experience for whoever goes there .. I go there from time to time and every time I feel amazed more and more ...
I will try to add more pics later ,
I wish I've added a new info to you today about the country or the Mosque !
Update:
I have to tell you also one of the remarkable things you will see when you pass the main entrance for the mosque is the Palm trees , as you walk until you reach the mosque itself from the inside you will see Palm trees on your left and right ... Also would like to mention that Shikh Zayed made the Dates come out of them are for everyone we call it in Islam "Waqf" which means simply an endowment made by a Muslim to a religious, educational, or charitable cause.
Marwa