Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque Muscat

The largest and most famous mosque in Oman is the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat in the Al Gubbrah neighbourhood, right next to the highway that runs through the city from west to east. You should not miss the visit.

Inaugurated in May 2001, the elegantly simple building with its wickerwork-decorated dome, together with its forecourts, offers space for up to 20,000 worshippers to pray; its highest minaret rises 91.5 metres into the sky.

Through a large wooden portal you enter what is probably the most aesthetically impressive room in Oman. The hall is covered with a 4,263 square metre carpet, a masterpiece of Persian carpet weaving, both artistically and logistically. Over 600 weavers from Persia worked for around three years on the 1.7 billion knots, which were initially produced in sections and assembled into a single piece on site.

The visual counterpart to the fine carpet is the wooden ceiling, richly decorated with calligraphy and arabesques. The eight-tonne chandelier made of Swarovsky crystals adorns the magnificent dome. The Persian influences in the design of the mihrab, the central prayer niche, cannot be overlooked. Overall, the architecture and design of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque deliberately cites influences and designs from the entire Arab world from Morocco to Persia from many centuries. The design is so well-balanced that no single element takes centre stage, instead creating an impressively elegant and harmonious overall impression of the space.