Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is one of the world's largest and most beautiful mosques. An architectural masterpiece merging several Islamic architectural schools' styles, it was built under the vision and instruction of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE's founding father. Sheikh Zayed wanted the mosque to convey historical consequence and symbolise the Islamic message of peace, tolerance and diversity. He intended the Grand Mosque not only to be a living representation of modern Islamic architecture that links the past with the present, but also a place of Islamic science and learning that reflects genuine Islamic values. With its open-door policy, it welcomes tourists and celebrants from around the globe.

With a capacity of 40,000 people, the mosque features 82 domes, the largest of which is located in the centre of the main prayer hall. The domes showcase pure white marble cladding, onion-shaped "crowns", and crescent-shaped finials finished with gold-glass mosaics. The use of natural, multi-coloured marble is unique to this mosque. There are more than 1,000 columns in the structure, with decorated, crowned columns featuring crowns not at the top, but the bottom.

Inside, you'll find seven crystal chandeliers. The largest – in the main prayer hall– is ten metres across and 15 metres tall, weighing 12 tons. The mosque also showcases four minarets, each about 106 metres tall. Each minaret is made up of three distinct geometric shapes reflecting Moroccan, Andalusian and Mamluk styles.

The mosque is also home to the world's largest hand-knotted carpet, located in the main prayer hall. Third-generation carpet maker and artist, Dr Ali Khaliqi, was behind the carpet's intricate Islamic medallion design. The single-piece predominantly wool carpet is 5,700 square metres in size and was hand-crafted by about 1,200 artisans over two years, with about eight months dedicated to creating its design, and around 12 months to knotting it.