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Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque


History


In 1992 Sultan Qaboos directed that his country should have a Grand Mosque. A competition for its design took place in 1993 and after a site was chosen at Bausher construction commenced in December 1994. Building work, which was undertaken by Carillion Alawi LLC, took six years and seven months. The mosque is built from 300,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone. The main musalla (prayer hall) is square (external dimensions 74.4 by 74.4 metres (244 by 244 feet)) with a central dome rising to a height of fifty metres above the floor. The dome and the main minaret (90 m (300 ft)) and four flanking minarets (45.5 m (149 ft)) are the mosque’s chief visual features.

Description


The main musalla can hold over 6,500 worshippers, while the women's musalla can accommodate 750 worshipers. The outer paved ground can hold 8,000 worshipers and there is additional space available in the interior courtyard and the passageways, making a total capacity of up to 20,000 worshipers.

The mosque is built on a site occupying 416,000 m2 (4,480,000 sq ft), and the complex extends to cover an area of 40,000 m2 (430,000 sq ft). The newly built Grand Mosque was inaugurated by Sultan of Oman on May 4, 2001 to celebrate 30 years of the his reign


Details

Location

Sultan Qaboos St, Muscat, Oman

Worshippers

20000

Architect Name

Mohammed S. Makkiah

Year of Build

2001

Area

416000 SQM

Drawings

Map

History

In 1992 Sultan Qaboos directed that his country should have a Grand Mosque. A competition for its design took place in 1993 and after a site was chosen at Bausher construction commenced in December 1994. Building work, which was undertaken by Carillion Alawi LLC, took six years and seven months. The mosque is built from 300,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone. The main musalla (prayer hall) is square (external dimensions 74.4 by 74.4 metres (244 by 244 feet)) with a central dome rising to a height of fifty metres above the floor. The dome and the main minaret (90 m (300 ft)) and four flanking minarets (45.5 m (149 ft)) are the mosque’s chief visual features.

Description

The main musalla can hold over 6,500 worshippers, while the women's musalla can accommodate 750 worshipers. The outer paved ground can hold 8,000 worshipers and there is additional space available in the interior courtyard and the passageways, making a total capacity of up to 20,000 worshipers.

The mosque is built on a site occupying 416,000 m2 (4,480,000 sq ft), and the complex extends to cover an area of 40,000 m2 (430,000 sq ft). The newly built Grand Mosque was inaugurated by Sultan of Oman on May 4, 2001 to celebrate 30 years of the his reign