[ grand mosque in abu dhabi ]

YESTERDAY I went on a little road trip with some expat women to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. The largest mosque in the UAE, it can hold over 40,000 people and is a stunningly beautiful structure.

The design of the mosque is a fusion of Arab, Mughai and Moorish architecture and artisans and materials from all around the world were used in its construction. Reflective pools surround the mosque and at night, a unique lighting system is designed to reflect the phases of the moon.

The mosque site is the size of 5 football fields and features 82 domes of Moroccan design, all decorated in white marble. The courtyard is paved in white marble with a coloured floral marble and mosaic inlay.

Once we were all dressed in the abaya robes they provided {some of us brought our own head scarves}, we made our way through the courtyard to the main entrance.

Took off our shoes...

and felt the cool marble under our toes.

The walls and floors of the entrance room are covered in a floral motif inlay crafted from different types of marble from around the world. Flowers are an important motif used to depict paradise.

The first of many gorgeous chandeliers.

Prayer clocks list the names of each prayer and what time it takes place.

We were greeted by our tour guide who led us through to the main prayer room.

This room is all about details. Ceilings and walls are intricately decorated and handcarved Greek marble columns are inlaid with mother of pearl.

The floors are covered with the world's largest carpet {over 60,000 square feet and over 36 tons}, all hand-knotted in Iran by over 1300 artisans.

Huge chandeliers from Germany feature thousands of Swarovski crystals and Italian glasswork.

The 75 foot high Qibla wall {the wall worshippers face in the direction of the Holy City of Mecca when praying} features the 99 names {qualities} of Allah done in traditional Kufi calligraphy.

We were led outside to the outer area where over 1000 marble columns surround the mosque. Semi-precious stones were used to create the floral inlay. Thirty different types of marble were used in this mosque.

The mosque also houses a library with publications dating back over 200 years and is also the final resting place of late UAE president, HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who was the visionary of this beautiful mosque. What an incredible place.

lisa