Day 9, December 31: Mosques, Museums, and Palaces (Part 1)
- randolf50
- Jan 1
- 3 min read

Patrise and Doug in front of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi
Today's blog entry will be slightly different, in that I will use less narrative and many more pictures. That is primarily due to the fact that it would be hard to put The Grand Mosque into words. We began the day with a tour of this mosque that is one of the biggest and most revered in Islam. There are two other very large mosques in the U.A.E of a similar scale, but they are not as big and by reports, not as beautiful. Those two mosques are the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Grand Mosque Fujairah and the Sheikh Khalifa Grand Mosque (also located here in Abu Dhabi). Remember that Sheikh Zayed was the father and Sheikh Khalifa is the son.
In addition to the Grand Mosque, we visited the Louvre Museum Abu Dhabi and the Emirates Palace Hotel. We ended the day celebrating New Year's Eve at our hotel. More about all of this later, but let me get back to The Grand Mosque.
As I stated earlier, there are not enough words to describe the beauty of this mosque. I have seen many ornate Christian churches, Buddhist and Hindu temples, but none rival this place in my opinion. And honestly, it is not as opulent as some others I have seen, but the combination of artistry, craftsmanship and simplicity in design make this place one that I am very glad I saw. I would recommend that everyone should see it, regardless of your religious preference or none. To save a lot of words, I strongly encourage you to read the Wikipedia entry about it, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Zayed_Grand_Mosque. All of the marvelous details about the architect's design approach, the selection and sourcing of the materials, the construction challenges and methods: you can read all about it there.. Therefore, the rest of my entry about the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi will be in a large number of photos, some with captions.
1st row: Mosque seen from a distance, sign pointing the the underground entrance and a large mall, Patrise;
2nd row: a shop for women to buy appropriate attire for entering the mosque, a sign of permitted attire for men and women, a photo of Queen Elizabeth II in her visit to the mosque;
3rd row: Marshall waiting for everyone to gather, the view of the mosque when emerging topside, our first photo on the grounds of the mosque,. (We were not allowed to hold hands or have any outward manifestation of affection, so we stood as close together as possible.)
2nd row: there are 162 columns of white marble inlaid (left) with floral designs composed of precious stones (center).
3rd row: (l) the reflecting pool, (c) the design surrounding each cupola or dome, (r) inscriptions from the Quran around the base of each dome.
1st row: the courtyard with marble flooring, floral designs of inlaid precious stones
2nd row: (r) a sign warning of impermissible items (e.g. toys) and activities (e.g. holding hands)
3rd row: (l) one of many wall-mounted artworks throughout the mosque, (c) a foyer to the grand hall, (r) a chandelier in the foyer.
1st row: (l) decorative glass window made in Italy, (c) carpet of the main hall, (l) back wall with the 99 names of God or Allah mentioned in the Quran and the Bible;
2nd row: (l) a portion of the carpet (made in Iran, weighing almost 40 tons, (c) view of columns, (r) a wooden door, inlaid with mother of pearl made in Germany;
3rd row: (l) mother of pearl inlay on wooden door, (c) the largest chandelier in any mosque in the world, (r) decorative glass window;
(l) clock denoting in Arabic the names of the five prayer times of the day; (c) the specific times for each of the prayers; (r) the names written in English of the five prayer times of the day.
1st row: the three chandeliers of the main hall, (c) glass window above the exit door, (r) me standing at the exit
2nd row: (l) Marshall waiting for everyone to exit, (c) Doug and Patrise pictured with two fellow travelers, Franscesca and Olivia, (r) unobstructed view of the courtyard.
(l) The Sheikh Khalifa Mosque, (c) description of the Al Fujairah mosque, (r) The Sheikh Zayed Mosque Al Fujairah
End of Part 1.....
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