Abu Dhabi, U.A.E
Coordinates: 24.412853, 54.474975
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.
The largest mosque in the country, it is the key place of worship for daily, Friday and Eid prayers. During Eid, it may be visited by more than 41,000 people.
The Grand Mosque was constructed between 1996 and 2007.
The mosque is large enough to accommodate over 40,000 worshippers, while the main prayer hall can hold over 7,000.
There are two smaller prayer halls, with a capacity of 1,500 each, one of which is the women’s prayer hall.
The building complex measures approximately 290 by 420 m (950 by 1,380 ft), covering an area of more than 12 hectares (30 acres), excluding exterior landscaping and vehicle parking.
Artisans and materials came from many countries including India, Italy, Germany, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Pakistan, Malaysia, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, North Macedonia and the UAE.
The 99 names (qualities or attributes) of God (Allah) are featured on the Qibla wall in traditional Kufic calligraphy, designed by the prominent UAE calligrapher — Mohammed Mandi Al Tamimi.
World’s largest carpet
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has many special and unique elements: The carpet in the main prayer hall is considered to be the world’s largest carpet made by Iran’s Carpet Company and designed by Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi.
This carpet measures 5,627 m2 (60,570 sq ft), and was made by around 1,200-1,300 carpet knotters. The weight of this carpet is 35 ton and is predominantly made from wool. There are 2,268,000,000 knots within the carpet and it took approximately two years to complete.
Third largest chandeliers in the world
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has seven imported chandeliers from the company Faustig in Munich, Germany that incorporate millions of Swarovski crystals. The largest chandelier is the second largest known chandelier inside a mosque, the third largest in the world, and has a 10 m (33 ft) diameter and a 15 m (49 ft) height.[2]
Lighting
The pools along the arcades reflect the mosque’s columns, which become illuminated at night. The unique lighting system was designed by lighting architects Speirs and Major Associates to reflect the phases of the moon.
Beautiful bluish gray clouds are projected in lights onto the external walls and get brighter and darker according to the phase of the moon.
The Qibla wall also features subtle fibre-optic lighting, which is integrated as part of the organic design.
