Art of Pictures: Great Sheikh Zayed Mosque

The Sheikh Zayed is the 3rd largest mosque in the world, located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, situated in a large area between 2 bridges — Mussafah Bridge and Maqta bridge.

Named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder and the first President of the United Arab Emirates who is also buried there, the mosque was officially opened in 2007.

It’s large enough to accommodate 40,000 people — the main prayer hall accommodates up to 9,000, and 2 rooms next to the main prayer hall, with a 1,500-capacity each, are for the exclusive use of women.

There are 4 minarets on the 4 corners of the mosque which rise about 375 feet (115 meters) in height. There are 57 domes covering the outside yard and the main building decorated with white marble, and the interior decor is constructed of marble.

The courtyard is paved with floral marble designs and measures about 18,600 square yards (17,000 sq. meters).

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque has made some world records:

The carpet laid out on the vast expanse is the “World’s Largest Carpet” measuring 6,158 square yards (5,627 sq. meters). It took about 1,200 weavers, 20 technicians, and 30 workers to create the 47 ton carpet made of 35 tons of wool, and 12 tons of cotton. There are 2,268,000 knots within the carpet.

The world’s largest chandelier at about 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter, and 49 feet (15 meters) in height. There are 7 imported chandeliers from Germany which are copper and gold-plated.

Both of these records were previously held by the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Oman.

But the mosque’s reputation may be short-lived, as Algeria is set to build the 3rd-largest mosque in the world facing the Bay of Algiers to hold 120,000. Planners boast that the Bay of Algiers mosque will also contain the tallest minaret in the world at 985 feet (300 meters) high.