16 Dec 2019 - Cruise Day 6 (Muscat): Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

We had booked a shore excursion with Costa Cruise in Muscat as we were not familiar with this place, in fact this entire middle eastern region.  The first place of interest that the local tour guide brought us to is the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the main mosque in the Sultanate of Oman. It is also one of the only mosques in Oman that allows non-Muslim visitors.

The journey from the port to the mosque took about 45 minutes.  Before entering, the guide told us that there is strict dress code which we had to follow.  All visitors are required to dress modestly, covering arms and legs and avoiding tight clothing. Women and girls (aged seven and above) must cover their hair.

So once everyone was ready, especially the ladies, we proceeded to the entrance of the mosque.

This glorious piece of modern Islamic architecture was a gift to the nation from Sultan Qaboos to mark his 30th year of reign.  The mosque is built from 300,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone.  It occupies an area of 416,000 m², with a central dome rising to a height of 50 metres above the floor.

The mosque was completed in 2001 and took six years to build. Its massive area can hold up to 20,000 worshipers.

The main highlight of the mosque is inside the men’s prayer hall.  The chandelier above the praying hall is 14 metres (46 feet) tall and is used to be the world's largest chandelier before being replaced in this respect by the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which I will talk about in a later post.

The chandelier holds 600,000 shining bright Swarovski crystals, 24 carat gold plating and took more than four years to complete.

Thirty-four smaller chandeliers of the same design are hung in other parts of the building.

Another design highlight of the interior is the prayer carpet which covers the floor of the prayer hall. It contains 1,700,000,000 knots, weighs 21 tonnes and took 600 women four years to weave, and brings together the classical Persian Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan design traditions.  It used to be the largest single-piece carpet in the world, but is now the second, once again after the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

From the incredible men's prayer hall, we moved over to visit a smaller female prayer hall, which can accommodate 750 worshipers.

After which, we had some times to roam around the Mosque compound and admire the beautiful architecture all around us.

As we exited the mosque compound and walked towards the car park, we saw the Supreme Court Of Oman across the road.

We then boarded the tour bus which drove us to our next destination, Souq Mattrah.

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