Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Back up, we forgot to cover Casablanca

Our blog wouldn't be complete without our Casablanca coverage. Sorry about messing up the order. There wasn't a lot to see in Casablanca but we did make it to the most important attraction - the Hassan II Mosque. This mosque is out of this world. It's located right along the water and has a retractable roof (please don't picture a sports stadium roof, this roof has intricate designs all over the inside of it). It's the third largest mosque in the world and can hold up to 25,000 people.

Here is a description from wikipedia (don't worry, they are the same facts our tour guide told us):

"Built on reclaimed land, almost half of the surface of the mosque lies over the Atlantic water. This was inspired by the verse of the Qur'an that states "the throne of God was built on water." Part of the floor of this facility is glass so worshippers can kneel directly over the sea; above, spotlights 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."






































Location:Calle de Arlabán,Madrid,Spain

2 comments:

  1. Funny. It didn't even dawn on me that this got skipped. Glad you remembered because this mosque is not to be forgotten!

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