It Might Not Be Third, But It Is Very Large

Hassan II mosque claims to be the third largest mosque in the world, or so it is said.  Mecca is the largest mosque, and I went on Wikipedia to find the second largest (Blue Mosque in Turkey or Medina)?  Well, Hassan II holds 25,000 worshipers, of whom 5,000 can be women.  It turns out there are many larger mosques, so I'm not going to get into a ranking game here, but it is definitely NOT the third largest mosque in the world.  Wikipedia says it is the 13th largest mosque.

It is still a stunning building, and open to the public, so we got there a little before 2 pm for the last tour of the day.  It sits hard by the sea, with dramatic views of the Atlantic to the west.  At some points in the mosque, you are actually standing over the sea, as it juts out from the promontory above the ocean.

After wandering around a little outside, it was time to go in.  We took our shoes off, put them in easy to carry green bags, and waited for the tour to start.  We had a very interesting woman guide.  

The mosque was built in six years, and opened in 1993 (I will wait while you count backwards to figure out when construction started). . .okay, moving on.

It took 10,000 craftsmen and 3,000 workers to get it done.  The minaret is nearly 700 feet tall, and the whole thing was designed by a non-Muslim Frenchman.  The ceiling opens to allow the ocean breezes to sweep through and up, cooling the place.  One fellow on the tour speculated it was because so many men stink up the joint and referenced the incense at Santiago, but of course Muslims do wudu prior to the service, so I believe the air conditioning theory. 

Everything in the mosque is built with materials from Morocco, except for the many chandeliers (Murano, Italy -- Venetian glass) and some carerra marble, also from Italy.

After touring the main floor, we got off the carpet, put our shoes back on, and went downstairs to the ablution room, where the worshippers wash themselves prior to the service.  The number of fountains is amazing, although they were turned off as it was not time.

After the tour was finished, we wandered around outside some more.  One ironic note is that you can't walk to the edge and overlook the sea, because too many people were jumping off into the water and getting hurt.  And this is why we can't have nice things!