Penang Floating Mosque
History
A small mosque was first built in the area in 1967 and it was expanded in In 1977 so that it may accommodate 500 worshipers. With increasing population, it soon became too small for the local Muslim community, but with limited land to expand, an idea was then proposed to build the mosque out to the sea. The construction of the new mosque started in 2003. It was first opened to the public in January 2005. It was officially opened on 16 March 2007 by the fifth Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Urban and Architectural
Although it is called a floating mosque, the mosque is actually built on stilts, only at high tide would it have the appearance of floating on water. It is built in a mix of Middle Eastern and local architectural style and features a prominent minaret.
Description
The floating mosque stands on pilings and a stilt built on the sea bed, and is the country’s first-ever floating mosque to be built over a sea, as opposed to straits and lakes. The mosque’s grand structure is predominantly Moorish in design. Its most outstanding feature is its towering minaret, with a height equivalent to a seven-storey building, which offers a magnificent 360-degree panoramic view of the sea and its surroundings. Flower motifs and geometric patterns feature heavily in its decor, and can be seen on the ceiling underneath the main dome, in the stained glass windows encircling its main prayer hall and in perforated panels along its walls.
Details
Location
Jalan Batu Ferringhi, Tanjung Bungah, 11200 Tanjung Bungah, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Worshippers
1500
Owners
State Government of Penang
Year of Build
2007
Drawings
Map
History
A small mosque was first built in the area in 1967 and it was expanded in In 1977 so that it may accommodate 500 worshipers. With increasing population, it soon became too small for the local Muslim community, but with limited land to expand, an idea was then proposed to build the mosque out to the sea. The construction of the new mosque started in 2003. It was first opened to the public in January 2005. It was officially opened on 16 March 2007 by the fifth Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Urban and Architectural
Although it is called a floating mosque, the mosque is actually built on stilts, only at high tide would it have the appearance of floating on water. It is built in a mix of Middle Eastern and local architectural style and features a prominent minaret.
Description
The floating mosque stands on pilings and a stilt built on the sea bed, and is the country’s first-ever floating mosque to be built over a sea, as opposed to straits and lakes. The mosque’s grand structure is predominantly Moorish in design. Its most outstanding feature is its towering minaret, with a height equivalent to a seven-storey building, which offers a magnificent 360-degree panoramic view of the sea and its surroundings. Flower motifs and geometric patterns feature heavily in its decor, and can be seen on the ceiling underneath the main dome, in the stained glass windows encircling its main prayer hall and in perforated panels along its walls.