Series show features of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
ABU DHABI: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre periodically publishes its cultural series, “Art and Architecture”, on the Centre’s Instagram page @szgmc_ae. The publication is part of a larger national effort to keep alive the country’s unique culture and traditions that are rooted in Islam. The Centre’s cultural tour guides educate followers on social media plaforms, and those interested from different cultures of the world, about the Mosque’s Islamic distinct features, which convey messages of tolerance,coexistence,andculturalrapprochement, through the harmony and diversity of its details.
This episode features the reflective pools that surround Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and represent one of the most important aesthetic features inspired by Islamic architecture. Pools and fountains are known as main elements in decorating Islamic gardens.
With a total area of 7,000 square meters, the pools are decorated with thousands of mosaic pieces in blue shades. They are designed to surround the Mosque from the outside and bring its architecture to life, reflecting the mosque’s magnificent columns and becoming even more spectacular by the lighting at night.
These reflective pools have rectangular shapes, which adds an aesthetic element to the and attracts the atention of visitors.
The pools at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque also contribute to reducing heat and mitigating the impact of drought. Many civilizations have considered pools to be an element of atraction and beauty. Ancient people turned water structure into a universal symbol and an engineering miracle by transferring water of different sources to stone formations, such as pools, basins, fountains, giving the surrounding environment an aesthetic value and serving different purposes.
Recently, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi received 65,500 worshippers and 126,000 visitors during H1 2021, totalling 235,700 people.
The mosque offers a unique Tolerance Path experience that takes visitors on an unforgetable journey of exploration, in addition to its role as a place of worship.
Over the first six months of 2021, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre (SZGMC) conveyed the mosque’s message of tolerance, stemming from the true teachings of Islam, through 1,700 cultural tours. In addition, the centre organised 75 virtual tours in Arabic and English via Instagram and Microsot Teams, recording 7,382 views. Three tours were conducted in sign language as part of the RE’HAAB ALHEMAM programme that caters for people of determination to include them in various initiatives organised by the centre as part of its commitment to social responsibility and in recognition of their influential role within the community.