Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat

Honestly we visited the Grand Mosque because we felt we "must". Number one attraction in Muscat, we cannot not see - but none of us super excited over religious places so did not have much of an expectation really. And boy how wrong we were! The place is stunning, absolutely gorgeous, a piece of art really. The atmosphere is serene and we could had easily spend more time inside.

Sultan Qaboos decided that Oman needed a Grand Mosque in 1992 and the mosque was inaugurated in 2001 - the build itself took over 6 years. No wonder when looking at the intricately carved lime stone! The main prayer hall is 74x74 - that is over 5000 sqm! - and covered with a single piece of hand knotted Persian rugs: 600 ladies worked on it for 6 years and it contains 1 700 000 000 knots and weights 21 ton! The central chandelier hanging from the 50m high dome is 114m tall and was made in Italy. Despite all these grandeur and luxury, the building has a simple vibe and it super harmonic - it just peaceful to be there. Well, outside of prayer times I guess - it can accommodate 20 000 worshipers at a time!

The magnificent prayer room with the one of a kind hand made Persian carpet.