Since time immemorial, mosques have served as the seat of religious and cultural learning in Islam and hold immense value. Adorned with stunning architecture and jaw-dropping aesthetics, there are several beautiful mosques across the world for which words fall short.
The entrance porch is covered in colourful tiles in shades of blue, yellow, pink, azure and white. When coupled with the grand wooden door of the facade, it makes up for an entrance like no other. Another unique feature of this marvellous architecture is the two shabestan on the eastern and western sides.The western shabestan is connected to the beautiful courtyard of the mosque by seven wooden gates. These doors wear the art of Gereh Chini and pieces of coloured glass.
The mosque is surrounded by four minarets, each around 106 metres tall, composed of three distinct geometric shapes. A square forms the minaret’s base with an architecture that is reminiscent of Moroccan, Andalusian and Mameluke styles. The second section of the minaret has an octagonal shape, which is a design that goes back to the Mameluke era . The third section is cylindrical, which dates back to the Ottoman era .
A holy site for both Muslims and Jews, the mosque sits inside a 35-acre compound referred to as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, by Muslims, and as the Temple Mount by Jews. The Dome of the Rock, a seventh-century structure inside the mosque complex, is believed to be the site where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
The great mosque is an architectural beauty in the ancient city of Samarkand. Built between 1399 and 1404, the mosque is named after Mongol leader Timur’s wife. The construction began after Timur’s successful campaign in India. Built during the Ottoman empire, the grand blue mosque was commissioned by Sultan Ahmed I between 1609 and 1616, and architect Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa planned the building. The exterior is a series of five main domes and eight secondary domes that seem to come rolling down like a cascade from the central one. Surrounded by six needle-like minarets, the mosque harmoniously combines Byzantine Christian and traditional Islamic architectural elements.
One of the largest mosques in Africa, it can accommodate 105,000 worshippers — 25,000 inside, the rest in courtyards outside.