October - December 2012
Mosque
Krzysztof Muskalski photographs
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is located in Abu Dhabi - the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It’s one of the largest and the most beautiful mosques in the world. It bears the name of the creator and first president of the country. It was built in 1996-2007 with arduous work of about 3000 workers, engineers and artists from many countries of the world. The highest quality materials were used for its construction - marbles, semi-precious stones, crystals, ceramics, mostly from Italy, Germany, India, China, Morocco, Iran, Turkey, New Zealand. The mosque can accommodate over 40,000 people. The courtyard is surrounded by about 1000 columns and 107-meter minarets in the 4 corners of the mosque. Under the largest of its kind 33-meter dome is the world's largest chandelier, 10 meters in diameter, 15 meters high, weighing 9 tons, decorated with gold and thousands of Swarovski crystals.
This fabulous building, in the assumption of its creators, embodies the values of the UAE society, referring to the combination of tradition and modernity, passing on their most enlightened ideas. The mosque is to reflect the spirit of diversity in culture and the progress of civilization - the values that guided Sheikh Zayed when introducing the society of the United Arab Emirates to the path of progress and openness to the world.
Krzysztof Muskalski
