Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

If you remember my top ten list from this post, one of the things I was looking forward to doing on our trip was visiting Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. We have tried to visit in the past, but the visiting hours weren't posted, we didn't know which areas we were allowed in, and we got kicked out twice. However, recently they started letting non-Muslims inside the mosque on weekday mornings and have hours posted and everything. I think it is because the large mosque in Abu Dhabi (capital of the U.A.E.) starting allowing tours, so they decided to show off their mosque as well.

It was beautiful! Everything was so grand and extravagant. I am glad we finally got to see the inside.

The carpet and the chandelier are definitely the most extravagant features. The carpet is the largest single piece hand woven carpet in the world! It took over 300 women 4 years to complete and it covers the entire main worship hall which is over 14,000 square feet! And not only is it massive, but has more than 1,700,000 knots and is beautifully intricate.

The main chandelier is also enormous- over 45 feet tall! Its really hard to grasp the size from pictures- so you should just go to Oman and see it! :)

Here are some more of the Mosque, (and yes- Britt and I were sporting the head coverings as it was a rule inside the mosque)