Big, Real Big

Wiki says:

Hassan II Mosque

Hassan II Mosque is located in Greater Casablanca 

Location within Casablanca

Geographic coordinates 33.60826°N 7.63292°W

Affiliation Islam

Municipality Casablanca

District Casablanca

Prefecture Casablanca-Anfa

State Casablanca

Region Greater Casablanca

Year consecrated 1993

Ecclesiastical or organizational status In use

Status Active

Leadership King Hassan II

Architectural description

Architect(s) Michel Pinseau (France)

Architectural type Mosque

Architectural style Arab-Andalusian, Moorish

General contractor Bouygues

Groundbreaking 12 July 1986

Completed 30 August 1993

Construction cost $400–$700 million

Specifications

Capacity 105,000 (25,000 indoors, additional 80,000 on Mosque’s grounds)

Dome(s) One

Minaret(s) One

Minaret height 210 metres (690 ft)

Materials Cedar from Middle Atlas

Marble from Agadir

Granite from Tafraoute[1]

The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan II (Arabic: مسجد الحسن الثاني‎‎; nickname: “Casablanca Hajj” (colloquial, microblogging and social networking language)[2] is a mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the largest mosque in Morocco and the 13th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world’s tallest at 210 metres (689 ft).[3][4] Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues. The minaret is 60 stories high topped by a laser, the light from which is directed towards Mecca.[5] The mosque stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean, worshippers can pray over the sea but there is no glass floor looking into the sea. The walls are of hand-crafted marble and the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque’s outside grounds.[4]

I say:

I could not go inside.  There was a tour in an hour and a half, but I did not want to wait.  I wandered around the medina streets back to my hotel, after a nice 3+ mile walk.

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