Madīnat Zāyid

After we'd seen the hotel, as I said we went to Starbucks in the local mall for a coffee.
We then headed for the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was initiated by the late president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who wanted to establish a structure which unites the cultural diversity of Islamic world, the historical and modern values of architecture and art.
His final resting place is located on the grounds beside the same mosque.
The mosque was constructed from 1996 to 2007.
It is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates.

That's the official bit, on a more general level, the Mosque is an amazing piece of architecture.
As with the Emirates Palace Hotel being one of the best hotels I've seen. I've also seen quite a few mosques in my time, and seriously this is definitely one of the most beautiful.

Although very beautiful and traditional it also has quite a modern feel to it, this may be due to the electric prayer clock, or the cooling fans discreetly hidden in the four legged pillar sections that hold the place up, or maybe it's the gold chandeliers with the quite modern multicoloured cut glass droplets dangling from the centre.
Either way it's a very beautiful Mosque.
One last thing I want to mention is the marble inlay work that adorns the whole place, looking closely at it, you realise it can only have been done by hand.
You can then understand why this mosque cost over half a billion dollars to construct.

As I've said many many, times before to the people who know me, I'm not at all religious these days, but I can appreciate the architecture of all churches etc, and this mosque is definitely among the best and most beautiful places of worship I've ever seen.
There endeth the lesson lol.Leggi altro