Abu Dhabi

We really enjoyed being tourists in Abu Dhabi! We saw the Emirates Palace Hotel, the Corniche, and the UAE Heritage village. Here are a few of our favorite pictures.

Abu Dhabi - Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque

We saw a few spectacular sights over a couple of days in Abu Dhabi. This post will be entirely devoted to the Shiek Zayed Grand Mosque as it was one of the most photogenic locations we've ever been to and I don't know how to pare down the pictures! Enjoy!

Here is the whole complex from the main road 

The mosque requires visitors to wear appropriately modest clothing. They have full covering abayas that they lend out to visitors as well.  

 The mosque has 82 beautiful domes. They are similar to the domes on the Taj Mahal on the outside, but are more Moroccan on the inside (so the tour guide told us).  

 The approximately 1000 columns are covered in greek, white marble and inlaid with semi-precious stones like emerald, jade, ruby, saphire, etc. 

 The courtyard is massive and all of the tiles were hand-laid. The color and design help to manage the heat and prevent cracking due to weather changes.

 The design on the marble here was all carved by hand.  

 Chandelier in the entrance to the main prayer room made of Italian glass. 

 The complex is designed to be a picture of Heaven. The outside is white and clean with calming fountains, representing purity and calm of heaven. As you move inside the colors and flowers representative of the Quranic represntation of Heaven as a lush garden. 

 maybe i could be a photographer too ;) 

 On entering the main prayer room you see the far wall covered with the 99 names for God given in the Quran. The wall is beautifully backlight and accented with white gold.

 The back wall is covered with Tibetan granite, supposedly some of the coldest granite in the world. It contributes to the cooling of the moque.

The Gold and White enclave in the center is symbolic of the milk and honey flowing in heaven. 

The carpet is the largest continuous carpet in the world, hand-crafted in Iran. And the columns inside are in-laid with mother of pearl and onyx.

Engineering genius: the vertical joints in the marble were cut in an S-shape so the mother of pearl design would hide them.  

 Each collection of 4 columns holds a central fan and the AC output at the top.

Columns on the outside.