Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Issue 98 November 2012

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is the main mosque in all of Oman. In 1992, Sultan Qaboos, ruler of Oman, declared that his country should have a main mosque of its own. 

 The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is the main mosque in all of Oman. In 1992, Sultan Qaboos, ruler of Oman, declared that his country should have a main mosque of its own. He held an architectural competition to decide upon the best design for the building, after which construction began in 1995 and took six years. The structure was built using 300,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone. It has a dome, which reaches a height of 50m, and as well as a main minaret, standing at 90m, there are four more on each corner of the building at half the height. It can hold up to 20,000 worshippers at any given time.

It is well known for the carpet that adorns the prayer hall, as it is one single piece and is the second largest hand-woven carpet in the world. It contains 1.7 million knots, weighs 21 tonnes, and took the Iran Carpet Company four years to produce. It brings together the classical Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan design styles, and uses 28 colours in varying shades, most of which were obtained from traditional vegetable dyes. A grand chandelier can also be found in the main prayer hall, which is 14 metres tall, and manufactured by Faustig, a German company. l