— witsandnuts

I lost count of all the important personalities (the most recent was Queen Elizabeth) and intent whirlwind visitors who made Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque a must-see and experience in their UAE trip. Hence, when I finally saw it in person I cannot believe that it took me four years (yay! I’m soon celebrating another Abu-versary) to experience the charm and validate on my own the record-breaking details of THE mosque.

Thanks to my aunt who visited us in the overlapping momentous months of September and October last year. She made me list down the stuff which might interest her which paved way for discovery and re-discovery of UAE gems.

(The grand mosque features 80 domes,  1,096 columns in exterior and 96 columns in the main prayer hall which are embedded with more than 20,000 handmade marble panels with semi-precious stones.)

The third largest mosque in the world. We visited the grand mosque in October of last year.  There were plenty of visitors that weekend, however, we didn’t feel the need to queue or be negated by the thought of influx. Well, the grand mosque is hugeeeeee! Imagine that its size (more than 20,000 square metres) is equal to five (5) football fields. To sum up the capacity in terms of total number of worshippers, it can accommodate 40,960 people. Let me clarify though that the sum is based on the capacity of the entire mosque. The nerd in me wanted to create a pie chart to better illustrate how many worshippers it can house in the different prayer halls and court yard.

(L) My aunt covered by the traditional UAE dress* (abaya); We were teasing her that she’s got a teen spirit look here even if she’s already a senior citizen. I think that the grandeur of the open prayer hall and the wind contributed to the look.  (R) Visitors are required to remove the footwear before entering the main hall.