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The Hassan II Mosque

This is a discussion on The Hassan II Mosque within the General Morocco forums, part of the Morocco Travel Forums category; The Hassan II Mosque (Arabic: مسجد الحسن الثاني‎) is a mosque located in Casablanca, Morocco. Designed by the French architect ...

  

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Old 01-28-2009, 11:27 PM   #1
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Exclamation The Hassan II Mosque

The Hassan II Mosque (Arabic: مسجد الحسن الثاني‎) is a mosque located in Casablanca, Morocco. Designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues, it is the second largest in the world (after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca). It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's courtyard. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 metres (689 ft).

Characteristics:

Built on reclaimed land, almost half of the surface of the mosque lies over the Atlantic water. This was inspired by the verse of the Qur'an that states "the throne of God was built on the water". Part of floor of this facility is glass so worshippers can kneel directly over the sea; above, spotlights shine at night from the top of the minaret toward Mecca.

These features were specifically requested by King Hassan II, who declared, "I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean."

It also includes a number of modern touches: it was built to withstand earthquakes and has a heated floor, electric doors, and a sliding roof.

The mosque displays strong Moorish influence and the architecture of the building is similar to that of the Alhambra and the Mezquita in Spain. This and the old Tin Mal Mosque are the only mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims. Non-Muslims may view the interior on hour-long guided tours that depart several times daily.

Works:

Work on the mosque was commenced on 12 July 1986, and was intended to be completed for the 60th birthday of the former Moroccan king, Hassan II, in 1989. However, the building was not inaugurated until 30 August 1993.

All of the granite, plaster, marble, wood, and other materials used in its construction were taken from around Morocco, with the sole exceptions of some white granite columns and the glass chandeliers, both of which come from Italy. Six thousand traditional Moroccan artisans worked for five years to turn these raw materials into abundant and incredibly beautiful mosaics, stone and marble floors and columns, sculpted plaster moldings, and carved and painted wood ceilings.

Some pictures:


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Sources: Wikipedia & Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing

Last edited by Pikarey; 01-29-2009 at 02:50 AM.
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Old 03-13-2009, 09:55 AM   #2
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Oh Casablanca my lovely city!
I'll share with you some of my photos of the Hassan II mosque.

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I'll write an article about this mosque on my blog tomorrow

Last edited by Khalil; 03-13-2009 at 09:58 AM.
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Old 03-13-2009, 11:38 AM   #3
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Thank you Khalil for sharing, nice work!

btw Welcome to GoMorocco
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Old 03-13-2009, 01:05 PM   #4
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The highest skyscraper in Morocco!
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Old 03-13-2009, 04:14 PM   #5
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Thats a beautifull building, have you guys been in there?
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Old 03-13-2009, 04:46 PM   #6
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Yep I prayed there several times and thx guys for this Board. I hope that it'll be famous in the near future.
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Old 03-13-2009, 04:58 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Khalil View Post
Yep I prayed there several times and thx guys for this Board. I hope that it'll be famous in the near future.
Were working on it
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Old 03-13-2009, 05:04 PM   #8
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GL you can count me on this journey
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