Pomp and circumstance in the mosque
White with sparkling gold. 80 domes, a thousand pillars, crystal chandeliers. The average skyscraper from the Abu Dhabi skyline pales in. Forty thousand people can say their prayers at the same time on the largest hand-knotted carpet in the world and under a chandelier more than ten metres wide and 15 metres high.
But non-Muslims are also welcome at the Sheik Zayed Mosque, named after the first president of the United Arab Emirates. After more than twenty years of construction, the mosque was opened in 2007. Since then, visitors have been shining in splendour. Not only in the prayer room, in the large building there is also a library, exhibition space and the mausoleum of Sheik Zayed.
But marble, gold and mosaics are visible everywhere. And when the sun goes down, the magic isn't broken. Colorful lighting ensures that the domes of the mosque are not lost in the darkness.
