Photos: Post-race, Sheikh Zayed Mosque

With the whole day to play before our late night flight, we took advantage of the time to do some sight seeing. Our first stop was the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, a kilometre or two from our hotel. Read the Wiki entry (link above). It is a fascinating place.

This courtyard, paved with floral marble designs, covers 17,000m².

57 domes cover the walkways around the courtyard and the main building. I couldn't get low enough to fit in the 115m tall minaretes on the corners of the courtyard.

Women are given an abaya (black outer-garment covering) and shaylah (head scarf) to wear in the mosque. It was really fun to wear and very comfortable and cool. As the guys were wearing shorts, they were given the ankle-length white shirts, kandura, to wear. Seeing the Emirati (and other Arab cultures) around town and the malls - they really look very elegant. The full face coverings are not quite my thing; but the headscarves are quite elegant. As for the men; I do think the kandura and headscarves are pretty cool and when worn properly it looks very elegant. The one racer, who works in Abu Dhabi, told me that the men sometimes get changed three times a day to keep clean!

 

A room before the main prayer hall. Where the decorations outside and on the outer walls and pillars are intricate inlays, these flowers are in relief.

The World's largest chandelier in the main prayer hall. It is 10m in diameter and 15m in height. There are others - a bit smaller - in this room too. It is very striking and I like that the coloured balls add an element of fun.

Standing on the World's largest carpet in the main prayer hall. The hall accommodates 9,000. According to Wiki, 'this carpet measures 5,627 m2 (60,570 sq ft), and was made by around 1,200 weavers, 20 technicians, and 30 workers. The weight of this carpet is 47 tons – 35 tons of wool, and 12 tons of cotton. There are 2,268,000 knots within the carpet.' The guys were not allowed to touch me so that's why we're standing like little soldiers in this photo.

Nice photo of the carpet (thanks to Wiki). The pillars are decorated with silvery floral inlays - looks like mother-of-pearl.

Outside the mosque

This is a very impressive structure. Although it was opened during Ramadan in 2007, there is still construction happening around the building and also a lot of activity in the gardens. This mosque accommodates 40,000 worshippers. Sheik Zayed is buried somewhere here too. The white - inside and out - is marble. This is the largest mosque in the Emirates and the 8th largest in the World.