Hassan II Mosque Photos ~ Traveler Photographs.com

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Hassan II Mosque Photos

Hassan II Mosque Photographs

I first visited the Hassan 2 Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco in September of 2007. I went there in the early morning before many people were out int he streets and I was immediately overtaken by its great magnitude. The Mosque stands out as a great beakon over Casablanca and looks enormous even when relatively far away from it.

According to the Wikipedia Hassan II Mosque was "Designed by the French Architect Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues^[1], 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 meters(689 ft)."

Hassan II Mosque was built on reclaimed land- almost half of its giant structure is over the Atlantic Ocean- and was began in July of 1986. It was completed in 1993.

Hassan II said, "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." (Wikipedia)

The next time that I was back in Casablanca- January of '08- I was sure to go back to the Mosque for another visit. This time I made it there during the evening, and it was a scene of pure beauty watching the sun go down over the Atlantic ocean from behind the Mosque's enormous stone cut arches.

The following photographs are of the Hassan II Mosque: