Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is a must-visit during a trip to Abu Dhabi or Dubai, as it stands for the largest and one of the most beautiful mosques in the world; it’s a masterpiece of modern Islamic architecture and design.
The foremost noticeable component of the masjid is that the assortment of eighty-two domes it is found within the centre of the most prayer hall and the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet. The tortuous Muslim medallion style was created by third-generation carpet maker. The domes feature pure white marble facing, onion formed ‘crowns’, and semilunar finials adorned with gold-glass mosaic.
The predominantly wool, single-piece carpet is five,700 sq. meters and was hand-stitched by roughly 200 artisans. The full project took 2 years and eight months for the planning and twelve months for the knotting.
The mosque’s minarets mix Mameluke, Ottoman and Fatimid designs in an exceedingly manner that fuses numerous Islamic branch of knowledge designs into one expression of art and wonder.
The use of natural multi-coloured marble creates novel creative outcomes, as well as adorned topped columns wherever the crowns aren’t placed on the highest of the columns however at very cheap. This extraordinary technique is innovative to Islamic design.
The colours of the walls, columns and therefore the carpet area unit are harmonic in an exceedingly manner that transforms the masjid into a creative masterpiece and a symphony.
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The Grand mosque was constructed between 1996-2007, the building is said to measure approximately 420m ( 1,380 feet ). The mosque is large enough to accommodate 40,000 worshippers. Sheikh Zayed Grand musjid Center offices square measure situated within the west minarets. It manages the regular operations and is a middle of learning and discovery through its instructional cultural activities and visitant programs.
The second section of the tower has associate degree octangular shape, that could be a style that goes back to the Mameluke era (13th to sixteenth centuries). The third section is cylindrical in form, a style component from the Ottoman era (14th to twentieth centuries). The crowning lamp coated with gold-glass mosaic goes back to the Fatimid era (10th to twelfth centuries).
The library, situated within the northeast tower, serves the community with classic books and publications addressing a spread of Islamic subjects with some rare publications geological dating back quite two hundred years.
It’s definitely doable from Dubai as a day trip, which is 150kms away.
The mosque is open from 9 AM to 10 PM most days except on Fridays.
Guided tours are free and are available on a walk-in status.
About 1-2 hours is a good amount of time to allow yourself to view all parts of the mosque.
Visitors are not allowed to carry personal food and refreshments inside the mosque and will be confiscated at security.
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