Al Fateh Mosque

See more pictures: Al Fateh Mosque

• 
• 
• 

On a similar scale to the mosque in Istanbul, the immense Al Fateh Mosque was built using objects and materials from all over the world. Flirting with records, it is adorned with 1,000 lamps, wood carvings from India, thick cream rugs with arabesques, a monumental Swarovsky chandelier from Austria that stretches around the room to the edge of the arcades, stained glass windows from Iran, and marble from Carrara in Italy. There is also a large red and cream frieze displaying Kufic verse from the Koran. The 230 ft tall Grand Mosque opened in 1994 and it can accommodate up to 7,000 worshippers at a time. The dome spanning the middle of the space is the largest ever made of fibreglass. There are free guided visits of the Mosque, and - unusually for a mosque - it is open to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Some of the guides speak English, although you will need to wait a little until one is available. Women must don an abaya and a veil in order to enter the building.