Release date: 01/11/2011 |    

The Grand Mosque

As the Global Champions Tour gets ready to move to Abu Dhabi for the final round of the 2011 series, there is plenty of time to consider planning a visit to this amazing city. 

 The Al Forsan International Sports Resort in Abu Dhabi will showcase the 10^thround of the tour from 24-26^th November with riders and officials accommodating at the Hilton Abu Dhabi.

Whilst there are plenty of windswept dunes and warm waters of the Arabian Gulf to consider, the city has risen out of the sand and is certainly worthy of discovery as a tourist. The first stop would be The Grand Mosque. 

A truly world-class landmark is clad in marble and gold, with its 82 domes and four minarets standing over 100m high the building is the third largest mosque in the world.

The full name of the mosque is Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, named after the first president and founder of the UAE, who was buried at the Mosque site after his death on 03 November 2004. The mosque is located about 10km away from Abu Dhabi city between the Mussafah and Maqta bridges.

Commissioned in the late 1980s by Abu Dhabi’s then-ruler, construction began in 2006 and completed in late 2007.

Breathtaking internal spaces cater for 40,000 worshippers. The 96 columns in the main prayer hall are clad with marble and inlaid with mother of pearl, and has the reportedly the world’s biggest carpet and spectacular chandeliers.

The carpet in the main prayer hall is considered to be the world's largest carpet measuring 5,627 m² (60,570 sq ft), and was made by around 1,200-1,300 carpet knotters and it took approximately two years to complete. (pictured left)

The chandeliers were imported from Germany and incorporate millions if Swarovski crystals. The largest chandelier is the largest known chandelier inside a mosque and has a 10 m (33 ft) diameter and a 15 m (49 ft) height. (below)

Artistic license has been taken to the fullest in the design and delivery of different ambient lighting offerings.

Based on the image of a full moon with wisps of cloud moving across its face, the mosque building alters mood as the moon cycle progresses, bathed in cool white light at the full moon, but shifting colour consecutive evenings, and growing gradually bluer as the moon wanes. On the fourteenth evening the mosque is lit in deepest blue to signify darkness. The scheme involves hidden projectors which create the impression of clouds drifting from the direction of Mecca.

The mosque is open to people of all nationalities and religions. It's worth visiting in the evenings to take in the luminous special effects.

Images courtesy of Susanne Scheepers and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority