Monday, October 7

Grand Mosque

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque can take 40,000 worshippers, making it one of the world's largest. It features 82 domes, over a 1,000 columns, 24 carat gold gilded chandeliers and the world's largest hand knotted carpet. The main prayer hall is dominated by one of the world’s largest chandeliers –10 metres in diameter, 15 metres in height and weighing twelve tonnes. The mosque's first ceremony was the funeral of its namesake, Sheikh Zayed, who is buried at the site. It dominates the skyline, day and night.

There is not one human figure or animal to be seen on the walls nor engraved in the architecture, making it strangely uninteresting to me. The wailing call to prayer both haunting and beautiful.