New feature - want to focus on a couple of the sights around the UAE, give some detail.
Some photos of visits to the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Grand Mosque, in Abu Dhabi. It's almost complete after about 10 years. I'm told it's the third-largest in the world (after Mecca and the Dome of the Rock), can hold 40,000 people for a prayer service, and inside is both the largest Persian carpet in the world, and the largest mosque chandelier in the world.
One of the more amazing architectural features is that the entire floor, all the marble tiles, are suspended on a steel beam framework and water runs underneath the floor. It keeps the floor cool (particularly important since one must remove ones shoes and wash ones feet before entering a mosque and praying) even in the sun.
There are a couple more pictures of the courtyard and the interior in the post
"January and February" of February 29, 2008.
The collonades have individual domes with scrolling and script inside.
The inlay of stone and mother of pearl into the marble wall panels is in the same style as the Taj Mahal.
The doors are very ornate. Double paned glass with the designs, inlay and crystals pressed between the panes.
Inside, one of the sections of columns that holds up the ceiling. These stands (and many others) hold copies of the Quran, just in case someone needs one.
This is the chandelier -- a full picture, and a close up.
One of the artisans, working on the stone embossment of the entry foyer.
S & J
