Issue 01 · Abu Dhabi · Landmark · Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Macedonian marble, mother-of-pearl and gold: the largest mosque in the UAE.
Construction of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque began on 5 November 1996, and it opened for worship on Eid Al Adha in 2007. It is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates, and its grounds are the final resting place of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the UAE.
More than 165,000 square metres of white SIVEC marble from Macedonia clad the domes, minarets and walls; much of the white marble inside comes from Italian quarries. The 1,096 exterior columns are clad in white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones in the pietra dura technique, beneath capitals of golden anodised aluminium. In the main prayer hall, 96 columns are inlaid with mother-of-pearl vines.
The mosque has 82 domes; the largest, over the main prayer hall, is about 32.6 metres in diameter and 84 metres high, its finial decorated with gold-glass mosaic. Four minarets rise about 107 metres from the corners of a 17,400-square-metre courtyard, laid with more than 30 types of marble in floral mosaics designed by the British artist Kevin Dean.