This mosque is as impressive as it's data sheet indicates. I had read about the numbers before we traveled to Casablanca but nothing on paper can quite capture the sense of the immensity of this structure. Our little group of 5 went to visit the mosque on a Sunday and I took something like 165 pictures. Thanks for the digital revolution. Then I did something foolish. Never before had I done this. I uploaded my photos to my laptop and then went to re-insert the card back into my camera. Since I had all these wonderful pictures on my laptop, I wanted to prepare for the next day's events and shooting. I erased the card. Then I went back to my laptop to begin to play with the pictures–crop, color adjustments, etc. only to find that just about 16 of the originals had actually uploaded to my computer. Ugggg! I have never made that mistake before.
So the next day, I had to make a trip back to the Hassan II Grand Mosque of Casablanca. Which I did. Dragged two others from our original group along with me. This time, however, we got the tour of the inside and learned even more of how immense this structure is. It was simply amazing. I learned some of the specifics also of the before prayer ablutions that Muslims make, saw the different sections of the mosque proper and a whole lot more about the dimensions of this particular house of prayer. Below are more of the details.
The Hassan II Mosque (Arabic مسجد الØسن الثاني) is a mosque located in Casablanca, Morocco. Designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau, it is the second largest in the world (after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca). It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's courtyard. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 meters (689 ft). That is a third again the height of the Seattle Space Needle if that helps for a reference point.
Built on reclaimed land, almost half of the surface of the mosque lies over the Atlantic Ocean. This was inspired by the verse of the Qur'an that states "the throne of God was built on the water". Part of floor of this facility is glass so worshippers can kneel directly over the sea; above, lasers shine at night from the top of the minaret toward Mecca. These features were specifically requested by King Hassan II, who declared, "I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean."
It also includes a number of modern touches: it was built to withstand earthquakes and has a heated floor, electric doors, and a sliding roof.
The mosque displays strong Moorish influence and the architecture of the building is similar to that of the Alhambra and the Mezquita in Spain. This and the old Tin Mal Mosque are the only mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_II_Mosque
