The Mosque of Cordoba by Allama Iqbal (1933)

The Mezquita (Spanish for "Mosque") of Cordoba is a beautiful and fascinating building that symbolizes the many religious changes Cordoba has undergone over the centuries. Today, the Mezquita is the cathedral of Cordoba (officially the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption), but the vast majority of its art and architecture is the work of Islamic architects, who built it as a mosque in the 8th century.
The site on which the Mezquita stands has long been a sacred space – it was host to a Roman temple dedicated to Janus and a Visigothic cathedral dedicated to St Vincent of Saragossa before the mosque was constructed in the 8th century. Finally, a cathedral was added inside the mosque by the Christian conquerors in the early 13th century.

The construction of the Mezquita lasted for over two centuries, starting in 784 AD under the supervision of the emir of Cordoba, Abd ar-Rahman I. Under Abd ar-Rahman II (822-52), the Mezquita held an original copy of the Koran and an arm bone of the prophet Mohammed, making it a major Muslim pilgrimage site.

The Mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd ar-Rahman III ordered a new minaret (9th century), while Al-Hakam II enlarged the plan of the building and enriched the mihrab (961). The last of the reforms, including the completion of the outer aisles and orange tree courtyard, were completed by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir in 987.

When finished, the Mezquita was the most magnificent of the more than 1,000 mosques in Cordoba. But Cordoba was subject to frequent invasion and each conquering wave added their own mark to the architecture.

In 1236, Cordoba was captured from the Moors by King Ferdinand III of Castile and rejoined Christendom. The Christians initially left the architecture Mezquita largely undisturbed - they simply consecrated it, dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and used it as a place of Christian worship.

King Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the structure of the mosque. The kings who followed added further Christian features: Enrique II rebuilt the chapel in the 14th century; a nave was constructed with the patronage of Carlos V, king of a united Spain.

The heavy, incongruous Baroque choir was sanctioned in the very heart of the mosque by Charles V in the 1520s. Artists and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century, making the Mezquita an intriguing architectural oddity.

In 1931, Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal was the first Muslim to pray in the Mezquita since it was closed to Islam. In 1984, the historic center of Cordoba, including the Mezquita, was made a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Mezquita de Cordoba is most notable for its giant arches and its forest of over 856 (of an original 1,293) columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. These were taken from the Roman temple which had previously occupied the site and other destroyed Roman buildings.

The Mezquita also features richly gilded prayer niches. But the Mezquita's most interesting feature is certainly the mihrab, a domed shrine of Byzantine mosaics built by Al Hakam II (961-76). It once housed the Koran and relics of Muhammad. In front of the Mihrab is the Maksoureh, a kind of anteroom for the caliph and his court; its mosaics and plasterwork make it a masterpiece of Islamic art.

Although it does not fit in with the rest of the mosque, the 16th-century Baroque choir is an impressive sight, with an intricate ceiling and richly carved 18th-century choir stalls.

Outside the Mezquita is the Courtyard of the Orange Trees (Patio de los Naranjos), which in springtime is perfumed with orange blossoms and has a beautiful fountain.

The Torre del Alminar, the minaret once used to summon the faithful to prayer, has a Baroque belfry. Hardy travelers can climb to the top to catch a panoramic view of Córdoba and its surroundings.



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Masjid 2 Masjid in HD Masjid Al-Nabawi

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Arabic: المسجد النبوي) or the Prophet's Mosque is a great mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. It stands on the site of a mosque built by the Prophet Muhammad himself next to his house and contains his tomb. The Prophet's Mosque is the second holiest mosque in the world after al-Haram in Mecca. (Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem comes in third.)
The original Prophet's Mosque was built by the Prophet himself, next to the house where he settled after his Hijrah (emigration) to Medina in 622 AD. It was an open-air building with a raised platform for the reading of the Qur'an.

A square enclosure of 30x35 meters, the mosque was built with palm trunks and mud walls and accessed through three doors: Bab Rahmah to the south, Bab Jibril to the west and Bab al-Nisa' to the east. The basic plan of the building has since been adopted in the building of other mosques throughout the world.

Inside, the Prophet created a shaded area to the south called the suffrah and aligned the prayer space facing north towards Jerusalem. When the qibla (prayer direction) was changed to Mecca, the mosque was re-oriented to the south. The mosque also served as a community center, a court, and a religious school. Seven years later (629 AD/7 AH), the mosque was doubled in size to accommodate the increasing number of Muslims.

Subsequent Islamic rulers continued to enlarge and embellish the Prophet's Mosque over the centuries. In 707, Umayyad Caliph al-Walid (705-715) tore down the old structure and built a larger one in its place, incorporating the house and tomb of the Prophet.

This mosque was 84 by 100 meters in size, with stone foundations and a teak roof supported on stone columns. The mosque walls were decorated with mosaics by Coptic and Greek craftsmen, similar to those seen in the Umayyad mosque in Damascus and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (built by the same caliph). The courtyard was surrounded by a gallery on four sides, with four minarets on its corners. A mihrab topped by a small dome was built on the qibla wall.

Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785) destroyed the northern section of al-Walid's mosque between 778 and 781 to enlarge it further. He also added 20 doors to the mosque: eight on each of the east and west walls, and four on the north wall.

During the reign of the Mamluk Sultan Qala'un, a dome was erected above the house and tomb of the Prophet and an ablution fountain was built outside of Bab al-Salam. Sultan Nasir bin Muhammad bin Qala'un rebuilt the fourth minaret that had been destroyed earlier. After a lightning strike destroyed much of the mosque in 1481, Sultan Qaytbay rebuilt the east, west and qibla walls.

The Ottoman sultans who controlled Medina from 1517 until World War I also made their mark. Sultan Suleyman I (1520-1566) rebuilt the western and eastern walls of the mosque and built the northeastern minaret known as al-Suleymaniyya. He added a new mihrab (al-Ahnaf) next to the Prophet's mihrab (al-Shafi'iyyah) and placed a new dome covered in lead sheets and painted green above the Prophet's house and tomb.

During the reign of Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid I (1839-1861), the mosque was entirely remodeled with the exception of the Prophet's Tomb, the three mihrabs, the minbar and the Suleymaniyya minaret. The precinct was enlarged to include an ablution area to the north. The prayer hall to the south was doubled in width and covered with small domes equal in size except for domes covering the mihrab area, Bab al-Salam and the Prophet's Tomb.

The domes were decorated with Quranic verses and lines from Nahj al-Burdah, the famous poem by 13th-century Arabic poet al-Busiri. The qibla wall was covered with glazed tiles featuring Quranic calligraphy. The floors of the prayer hall and the courtyard were paved with marble and red stones and a fifth minaret (al-Majidiyya), was built to the west of the enclosure.

After the foundation of the Saudi Kingdom of Arabia in 1932, the Mosque of the Prophet underwent several major modifications. In 1951 King Abdul Aziz (1932-1953) ordered demolitions around the mosque to make way for new wings to the east and west of the prayer hall, which consisted of concrete columns with pointed arches. Older columns were reinforced with concrete and braced with copper rings at the top. The Suleymaniyya and Majidiyya minarets were replaced by two minarets in Mamluk revival style. Two additional minarets were erected to the northeast and northwest of the mosque. A library was built along the western wall to house historic Qurans and other religious texts.

In 1973 Saudi King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz ordered the construction of temporary shelters to the west of the mosque to accommodate the growing number of worshippers in 1981, the old mosque was surrounded by new prayer areas on these sides, enlarging five times its size.

The latest renovations took place under King Fahd and have greatly increased the size of the mosque, allowing it to hold a large number of worshippers and pilgrims and adding modern comforts like air conditioning.
As it stands today, the Prophet's Mosque has a rectangular plan on two floors with the Ottoman prayer hall projecting to the south. The main prayer hall occupies the entire first floor. The mosque enclosure is 100 times bigger than the first mosque built by the Prophet and can accommodate more than half a million worshippers.

The Prophet's Mosque has a flat paved roof topped with 24 domes on square bases. Holes pierced into the base of each dome illuminate the interior. The roof is also used for prayer during peak times, when the 24 domes slide out on metal tracks to shade areas of the roof, creating light wells for the prayer hall. At these times, the courtyard of the Ottoman mosque is also shaded with umbrellas affixed to freestanding columns. The roof is accessed by stairs and escalators. The paved area around the mosque is also used for prayer, equipped with umbrella tents.

The north façade has three evenly spaced porticos, while the east, west and south façades have two. The walls are composed of a series of windows topped by pointed arches with black and white voussoirs. There are six peripheral minarets attached to the new extension, and four others frame the Ottoman structure. The mosque is lavishly decorated with polychrome marble and stones. The columns are of white marble with brass capitals supporting slightly pointed arches, built of black and white stones. The column pedestals have ventilation grills that regulate the temperature inside the prayer hall.

This shiny new Prophet's Mosque contains the older mosque within it. The two sections can be easily distinguished: the older section has many colorful decorations and numerous small pillars; the new section is in gleaming white marble and is completely air-conditioned.

The most notable feature of the Prophet's Mosque is the green Dome of the Prophet, which rises higher amongst the sea of white domes. This is where the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad is located; early Muslim leaders Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab are buried in an adjacent area as well.

At the heart of the mosque is a small area called ar-Rawdah an-Nabawiyah (Arabic: الروضة النبوية), which extends from the tomb of the Prophet to his pulpit. All pilgrims attempt to visit and pray in ar-Rawdah, for there is a tradition that supplications and prayers uttered here are never rejected. Entrance into ar-Rawdah is not always possible (especially during the Hajj), as the tiny area can accommodate only a few hundred people. Ar-Rawdah has two small gateways manned by Saudi soldiers charged with preventing overcrowding in the tiny area.

The green fence at the tomb of Muhammad is guarded by Wahhabi volunteers, who prevent pilgrims from touching the fence, which the Wahhabis regard as idolatry. The structure called Muhammad's pulpit is similarly guarded. The current marble pulpit was constructed by the Ottomans; the original was much smaller and made of palm tree wood.

The mosque is located in what was traditionally the center of Medina, with many hotels and old markets nearby. It is a major pilgrimage site and many people who perform the Hajj in Mecca later come to Medina to visit the mosque.

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Marea Moschee seik Zayed din Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi reprezintă aproximativ 87% din suprafaţa emiratelor arabe şi nu este numai cel mai mare, dar şi cel mai populat şi mai bogat dintre acestea. Cea mai mare parte a teritoriului său este totuşi deşert de nisip şi piatră. Datorită bogăţiilor sale deţine rolul conducător în regiune. Majoritatea veniturilor emiratului provin desigur, din petrol. Mulţumită acestuia, Abu Dhabi care era în anii 20 cu siguranţă, cel mai sărac, a progresat până a ajuns ce este acum. În modernizarea emiratului au fost investite miliarde şi miliarde de dolari. Comunitatea beduină s-a transformat treptat, în numai 50 de ani, într-un stat modern, care utilizează cele mai noi tehnologii. Şi dezvoltarea sa poate să continue pentru că, Abu Dhabi deţine 90% din zăcămintele de petrol ale tuturor emiratelor.

Pe plan mondial ocupă din acest punct de vedere locul 5. Se estimează că zăcămintele de aici ar putea să ajungă pentru cel puţin încă 100 de ani. Şi printre ultimele cuceriri ale tehnicii, aici printre oameni continuă să domească tradiţiile penultimului secol. Teritoriului său îi aparţin şi o mulţime de insule mici, pe care , pe lângă o natură minunată se află şi preţioase vestigii arheologice. În partea sa vestică, oamenii au reuşit să smulgă deşertului o suprafaţă însemnată, pe care au plantat peste 20 de milioane de copaci. Timpul va decide dacă experimentul va fi sau nu un succes, dar până atunci totul este pe drumul cel bun.

Oraşul Abu Dhabi

Este un oraş modern tipic şi dacă nu ar fi peste 40 de moschei ale căror turnuri se înalţă spre cer, ar fi greu să îţi dai seama că te afli într-o ţară arabă. Pe drumul de intrare în oraş, se află cea mai mare moschee din lume, care poate primi deodată 20mii de credincioşi.

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Marea Moschee seik Zayed din Abu Dhabi,

Zeci de occidentali, intre care si femei, vin zilnic sa viziteze Marea Moschee seik Zayed din Abu Dhabi, o adevarata minune arhitectonica ce detine recorduri care ii asigura un loc in Guiness Book.
Deschisa de curand, moscheea a devenit rapid o atractie datorita numarului mare de recorduri pe care le detine. Asa cum declara una dintre coautoarele proiectului, Khawla al-Suleimani, "este a treia mare moschee din lume dupa cele de la Mecca si Medina (din Arabia Saudita), cele doua principale locuri sfinte ale islamului". Contrar celorlalte doua, moscheea din Abu Dhabi nu este interzisa nemusulmanilor, dimpotriva. Femeile trebuie sa se drapeze insa din cap pana in picioare in lungi rochii negre – abayas – pentru a li se permite intrarea.


Singura interdictie a celor nemusulmani in interiorul moscheii este de a atinge Coranul, aflat in toate salile de rugaciune. Moscheea este construita in intregime in marmura de Italia, are patru minarete cu inaltimea de 107 m si 82 de domuri cu sapte dimensiuni diferite. Are 96 de coloane, dintre care 24 principale, in interior si 1.084 in exterior. Mii de pietre rare si semipretioase au fost utilizate pentru decoruri, unele incrustate in marmura. Moscheea detine un fabulos covor iranian lucrat manual, cu o suprafata de peste 6.000 de metri patrati, cel mai mare din lume. Peste 1.200 de lucratori din regiunea Khorassan din estul Iranului au fost mobilizati doi ani pentru a tese covorul ce cantareste 45 de tone, costul sau fiind estimat la 8,5 milioane de dolari. Covorul acopera podeaua salii principale de rugaciune, unde au loc peste 9.000 de credinciosi. Alte doua sali vecine pot adaposti fiecare cate 1.500 de fideli, una fiind rezervata femeilor, care in islam nu se roaga impreuna cu barbatii. Doua ecrane-gigant de televizor permit urmarirea rugaciunilor imamului.

O alta emblema speciala este domul principal cu inaltimea de 75 m si diametrul de 32,2 m, clasat si el ca fiind "cel mai mare din lume".
Urmatorul record il reprezinta una dintre lustrele din cristale Swarovski si otel inoxidabil, de fabricatie germana, al carei cost a fost estimat la peste 8 milioane de dolari. Impozanta bijuterie are diametrul de 10 m, inaltimea de 15 m si cantareste peste 9 tone. Interiorul moscheii este placat cu aur si marmura. Echipati cu aparate foto si cu camere de filmat, vizitatorii vin atat din tara, cat si din strainatate. Proiectul a fost lansat in 1998 de fondatorul si primul presedinte al federatiei Emiratelor Arabe Unite, seik Zayed ben Sultan Al-Nahyane, care era si suveranul bogatului emirat petrolier, Abu Dhabi. Asa cum a dorit seicul Zayed, decedat intre timp, moscheea a fost ridicata pe un promontoriu de 9,5 m pentru a putea fi vazuta de departe, pe o suprafata de 22.000 metri patrati, si poate primi peste 40.000 de fideli. Ansamblul va fi finalizat in noiembrie 2009, dar chiar daca la anexele exterioare – gradini si parcari – lucrarile continua, moscheea este deschisa vizitatorilor. Abu Dhabi, contrar emiratului vecin, Dubai, doreste dezvoltarea turismului cu vocatie culturala si moscheea constituie o atractie suplimentara pentru vizitatorii straini care cauta si altceva decat plaja si shopping.


Cel mai mare covor artizanal din lume este iranian si va putea fi admirat în curând într-o moschee din Emiratele Arabe Unite, un privilegiu care a costat aproape 6 milioane de dolari.

Circa 1.200 de tesători din trei sate din nord-estul Iranului au muncit 18 luni pentru confectionarea acestui covor de 5.625 de metri pătrati, folosind 38 de tone de lână si bumbac, a explicat un responsabil iranian, Jalaleddin Bassam.

Covorul, care are dimensiunile unui teren de fotbal american, în valoare de 5,8 milioane de dolari, va fi întins în impunătoarea moschee Zayed ben Sultan Al-Nahyan din Abu Dhabi, numită astfel după numele fondatorului EAU. Nouă bucăti, în care culorile verde si crem predomină, realizate din cea mai bună lână de Sirjan (sudul Iranului) si din Noua Zeelandă, au fost cusute împreună.
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Dar perla din Abu Dhabi nu este această construcție, desigur, ci fabuloasa moschee de marmură albă, proaspăt construită, cu 82 de cupole. Sheikh Zayed Moscheea este una dintre cele mai mari din lume şi cea mai mare în Emiratele Arabe Unite.

Moscheea Albă din Abu Dhabi a costat 600 milioane de euro.

În 1996, în timp ce trăia încă părintele națiunii, Șeicul Zayed, a început construcţia celei mai mari moschei din Orientul Mijlociu, la porțile unuia dintre cele mai moderne orașe din lume, Abu Dhabi. Comparativul “cel mai” este foarte popular în aceste locuri, iar în descrierile meritelor moscheei sunt foarte des folosite “cel mai”, “cea mai” …

Din orice punct al oraşului, puteţi vedea mai multe minarete.

Principala cupolă a Marii Moschei, cu o greutate de 1000 de tone este considerată cea mai mare cupolă de templu din lume!

Pentru construcţie s-au folosit marmură albă şi numeroase inserţii de pietre preţioase şi semipreţioase.

Piața interioară a templului este de 22, 412 metri pătrați.

Aici se pot ruga în acelaşi timp până la 40 de mii de oameni!

Este adevărat că nu există prea mult mobilier.

Candelabrele din cristale Swarovski eclipsează prin dimensiunea și unicitatea lor toate închipuirile despre scump ca atare…

Pardoseala este acoperită de cel mai mare covor din lume! O capodoperă de 5,627 de metri pătraţi, cântărind 45 de tone și compus din 15 piese mari care au fost aduse aici cu două avioane, iar valoarea acestui produs unic este de 6 milioane de dolari. Pentru crearea covorului-gigant a fost nevoie de aproape doi ani. Produsul păstrează căldura a mii de mâini de țesătorese iraniene, care au lucrat sub supravegherea constantă a 50 de experţi.

Luxul şi grandoarea sunt prezente și în încăperile utilitare, toalete și băi..

din Oracol...