Another Abu Dhabi astonishment: the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The month May this year was pretty busy with business trips around the world. But, as ever, I still managed to squeeze in some tourisms and meditative appreciation of beauty. Back in Abu Dhabi – one such beauty was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque ->

You can see why they call it “grand”:

Apparently (as we were told on our excursion), they originally planned to build the largest mosque in the world, but the Muslim authorities in Saudi Arabia didn’t approve: the largest mosques are in Mecca and Medina, and they wanted it to stay that way! All the same – still massively gigantic:

Made of white marble (just like everything else), the floor of the inner courtyard is adorned with floral images – apparently made from semi-precious stones:

The galleries are also made of white marble and decorated with inlays of semi-precious stones:

At the entrance to the main hall there are warnings: behave appropriately:

Inside the views are also luxurious:

Clocks on the walls show the date and time by international standards, the Islamic date (which is different, as the Islamic calendar starts from the migration of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Muslims from Mecca to Medina), and prayer times:

The main hall:

Ah – which reminds me of something I’ve been seeking the answer to for years…

The last time I was in the Far Northern Russian city of Norilsk (inside the Arctic Circle), on our excursion around the city we came upon a mosque. And I wondered – and asked our guide: how do they determine prayer times and observe fasting above the Arctic Circle (given that they depend on celestial events like, among other things, the sun rising and setting, and that the sun doesn’t rise or set for months at a time in Norilsk)? The answer that came was a vague ~”they’ve figured it out somehow”. Hmmm. But I digress…

Back in the mosque in Abu Dhabi (now there’s a contrast!), one important thing to note is the rug (rather – carpet) in the main hall. It’s a single piece – not different sections sewn together. As we were informed, it weighs……… 35 tons, and took 1200 women two years to weave! It was made in Iran and somehow delivered to this hall. It’s unclear how they placed it over the columns – or was it present before their construction?

Assorted pics…

The mosque is open to tourists, but, of course, there’s a strict dress code:

From the parking lot to the mosque itself, there’s an underground passage with numerous boutiques – as big as a town!

A scale model of the mosque:

And a few photos taken by my fellow travelers:

That’s all for today folks; back soon!…