Disappointment. You know, Vaskot and I were in Dubai in 2015 and when we visited then Sheikh Zayed Mosque We had a fantastic experience. Back then, you could walk around freely. When we entered, we women were given abayas so that we were decent to enter the mosque. Not just decent - beautiful, because the abayas were beautiful. There was no excessive crowding. You could actually step on the carpet, you could even go straight into the mosque through the courtyard and see everything freely.
What about this time, in 2023? Everything is different. You can't get an abaya anymore. Despite having longer clothes with me, I could barely combine them so that everything except my face was covered. (The children and husband were in shorts.) The crowd was so bad . There were tapes everywhere and very limited places to walk and step. In short, a completely different experience and unfortunately, not very beautiful. The mosque is beautiful, definitely worth a visit. But I sincerely hope that they limit visits even more, because there were absolutely too many people at once.
And a few more facts about the mosque:
1. It was built from 1994 to 2007 (3,000 workers).
The 2nd complex is 12 hectares in size.
3. The mosque can accommodate over 4,000 worshippers.
4. It is built from top-quality materials: marble, gold, precious stones, crystal, etc.
5. The carpet took two years to create and weighs 35 tons.
6. There are 7 chandeliers made of Swarovski crystals inside.
We were enchanted by the second landmark we visited in Abu Dhabi.
"Wealth is not money and oil. Wealth lies in people, and it is worthless if not dedicated to serving the people." – Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
This quote is from the palace Qasr Al Watan . Presidential Palace. Crazy. Beautiful. Huge. In the most beautiful color combination, if you ask me: white, blue, yellow/gold. I recommend a visit 10/10. Amazing. (Just make sure you are appropriately dressed when visiting.)
