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The 7 Most Striking Mosques Around the World + The World’s Most Beautiful Buildings + (PHOTOS)

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7 Most Beautiful Mosques Around the World

In Muslim tradition, mosques are sacred places where all followers of Islam come for worship and prayers. Since Islam is one of the most spread religions in the world, mosques are built everywhere across the globe, one more beautiful than the other. Beyond their stunning architecture, these constructions have fascinating stories, not to mention wonderful interiors – of course, if you are lucky enough to be a Muslim, since non-Muslims are not allowed to enter them all the time. If you plan to visit one of these dearest structures, here are 7 Most Beautiful Mosques you should consider.

Al Haram Mosque

Al Haram is the most monumental mosque in the world, located in the city ofMecca, Saudi Arabia. Surrounding the Kaaba, one of Islam’s most sacred places, the Al Haram mosque is also the largest in the world, covering an area of 400,800 square meters of indoor and outdoor praying spaces, with a capacity of up to 4 million people. Established at the time of prophet Ibrahim, the Al Haram mosque allows both men and women to pray together, unlike most other mosques that are usually segregated. The mosque is opened to all visitors at any hour, and you should definitely consider visiting it during regular days, when no celebrations take place, unless you want it to be very crowded.

Kaaba and Al-Masjid al-Haram, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi

Located in Medina, Saudi Arabia, the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi mosque is extremely popular due to the fact that it was built by Prophet Mohammad. Al-Masjid an-Nabawi is the second largest mosque in the world, and also one of the holiest worship places for all Muslims in Medina. What makes this structure so special is the tomb of Prophet Mohammad, which is conveniently located in the center of the mosque, also called the “Green Dome.” The wooden cupola of the mosque has been built in 1279 over the tomb, and it was later reconditioned multiple times throughout the 15th century and once in 1817. If you plan to visit Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, consider doing this at night, when all lights and lamps are turned on.

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi at Saudi Arabia

Hassan II Mosque

Built in Casablanca, Morocco, the Hassan II Mosque is the 7th largest  mosque in the world, and also the structure with the tallest minaret, at 689 feet high. Standing on a promontory, the mosque features glass floor that allows all visitors to look at the Atlantic Ocean while visiting it. What makes this structure really unique is its architecture, which features hand-made marble walls and retractable roof, as well. Having been completed in 1993, the Hassan II Mosque offers all visitors unique sights and opportunities, especially because its architecture is Arab-Andalusian, with a wonderful color scheme of green and ground brown. The mosque is especially beautiful to visit during spring and summer, when the ocean is calm and can be watched without potential dangers.

Hassan II Mosque at Casablanca, Morocco

Al Aqsa Mosque

Even though it is ranked only as the third most beautiful mosque in the world, the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands out among other mosques in the world due to the fact that it is part of the “Sacred Noble Sanctuary,” also known as Al-Haram ash-Sharif, which is believed to be where the Temple of Jerusalem once stood. Initially built as a smaller prayer house, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was later rebuilt and expanded in 705 CE. The mosque has been constructed using precious materials, such as white marble, gold, limestone and stalactite, having an ancient appearance that lets the visitor wonder about its history. The mosque is opened to all visitors who come to Jerusalem, Palestine, and can be visited especially during various Muslim celebrations that take place throughout the year.

Al Aqsa Mosque at Jerusalem

Faisal Mosque, Islamabad

Shaped like a desert Bedouin’s tent, the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad is the largest mosque in Pakistan, also recognized as world’s largest mosque during 1986-1993, until the expansion of the Masjid Al-Haram. With four corner minarets, the structure has a unique architecture, corresponding to the contemporary Islamic style. This mosque has been recently built in 1986, which makes it stand out among the others. Even though it lacks the traditional domes and arches, the structure is still very popular in Muslim culture, with a concrete shell and mosaic pattern on the west wall. All visitors are welcomed to the Faisal Mosque throughout the entire year, but they are advised to dress accordingly to enter it.

Faisal Mosque at Islamabad, Pakistan

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque

As a major landmark and tourist attraction of Brunei, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque was completed in 1958, built according to the modern Islamic architecture. The mosque is extremely appreciated for its many lush gardens full of fountains, golden domes with courtyards and marble minarets, which will successfully compensate its small capacity. Moreover, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is surrounded by floral gardens and trees, which symbolize heaven in Islamic culture. The most notable feature of this mosque is its main dome, which is covered entirely in gold. For visitors who want to come to Brunei to visit this mosque, they will be certainly enchanted by the surreal views offered by the tallest minaret of the structure, which mixes both Renaissance and Italian architectural styles.

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque

 Zahir Mosque

Located in Kedah, Malaysia, the Zahir mosque is recognized as one of the oldest and most famous structures of this type in Malaysia. Built by Tunku Mahmud in 1912, the Zahir mosque approaches a unique architectural style, which was inspired by the AZIZI Mosque in Sumatra, Indonesia. With five domes and several minarets, this place of worship is one of the most sacred in the whole Muslim world, particularly because the state’s Quran reading competition is held here annually. When attempting to visit the Zahir mosque, be sure that you come when this event is held, to enjoy a unique, one-of-a-kind experience.

Zahir Mosque in Malaysia

These Mosques are undoubtedly some of the most remarkable constructions in the world, having beautiful architectures and styles that make all of them so different, yet very similar.


Image Credit : Muhammad Mahdi KarimNacizaneGodot13Khalid MahmoodSam Garza , Sham Hardy

 

The world is loaded with beautiful buildings, and this list is but a small portion of what is out there. But a fine selection nonetheless.

There are sure to be buildings that you feel have been left off the list. We want to know about. Send us your thoughts and pictures from trips!

 

Museo Guggenheim, Spain Some critics might argue that Frank Gehry’s Museo Guggenheim in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao, opened in 1997, looks as though it’s been taken to by a can-opener, but this is one of the most influential and striking buildings in modern architecture. With its ribbon-like sheets of titanium and its collection of interconnecting blocks, the museum gives a nod to Bilbao’s industrialism but also to the saucer-like curves of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R

Potala Palace, Tibet Perched high above the holy city of Lhasa is the former seat of the Tibetan government and the winter residence of the Dalai Lama. More notable now for its imposing presence than its residents, this huge construction is 13 stories high, contains thousands of rooms, and is styled like a traditional Buddhist gompa (temple), if significantly more elaborate. More than 7,000 workers were said to have been involved in its construction during the 7th century AD. Potala

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt Between the ancient pyramids and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt now has the best of old and new. Like a giant discus landed at an angle or an enormous light switch, Alexandria’s oceanfront library is arguably the first great design of the new millennium. Completed in 2002, it’s inspired by the original Alexandrina library, founded in the 3rd century BC and acclaimed as the greatest of all classical institutions. The building’s sloped design

 

La Sagrada Familia, Spain Surely the most extraordinary church on the planet, from the mind of one of history’s most eccentric designers: Antoni Gaudí. With its tapering towers like the straightened arms of an octopus, construction of Sagrada Família began in 1882, though Gaudí’s vision was so complex that the church is still unfinished. It will ultimately feature three façades and 18 towers, the tallest of them (557 feet) representing Jesus Christ. Plans are to have the Barcelona

Taj Mahal, India Is this the world’s most famous building? And its most romantic (ignoring the sprawling, industrial city around it, and the hordes of rickshaw-wallahs and touts)? Described by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore as ‘a teardrop on the face of eternity’, the Taj Mahal in Agra was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. It’s an extravagant, white-marble monument to love,

 

Imam Mosque, Iran Headlining beside one of the world’s largest squares, Esfahan’s Imam Mosque is a tiled wonder. Completely covered, inside and out, with pale blue and yellow ceramic tiles (which are an Esfahan trademark), it’s a stunning 17th-century mosque, with its tiles seeming to change color depending on the light conditions. The main dome is 177-feet high and intricately patterned in a stylized floral mosaic, while the magnificent 90-foot high portal is a supreme

 

Imam Mosque, Iran

 

Winter Palace, Russia Best known as the outer casing for the remarkable State Hermitage Museum, this pistachio-colored gem on the banks of the Neva River in St Petersburg was designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli as the winter residence of the Russian tsars. Filling an entire block, it bears all the whimsy and ornamentation of the baroque period, and statues line its roof edges like divers about to plunge into the Neva. Little wonder it should be the showpiece of a city built specifically to highlight that Russia could match the architectural beauty of Europe

 

Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil Designed by Oscar Niemeyer, the celebrated architect behind the creation of the Brazilian capital, Brasília, the Museu Oscar Niemeyer in Curitiba will test your view of aesthetics. Like all great buildings – and probably more so – the art museum’s appearance has an element of love-it-or-hate-it, with its main gallery shaped like a reflective glass eye, balancing atop a yellow support, and approached on curving ramps above a pool of water. Once inside the building commonly called the ‘Eye Museum’, you’ll see that every aspect of the museum’s design seems to marry beauty with whimsy.

 

Hagia Sophia, Turkey Aya Sofya (or Hagia Sophia) is the great architectural landmark at the heart of Istanbul, with its four minarets poised like moon-bound rockets. Constructed in the 6th century AD as an Orthodox church, it later became a mosque and, since 1935, a museum. The enormous structure was built in just five years, and its musk walls are topped by an imposing dome, 101-feet wide and 183-feet high. The dome’s base is ringed by windows, so that from within the structure, the dome seems almost to hover ethereally above the building.

 

(Source: The Huffington Post)

 

 

 

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