12-Ton Chandelier

Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi. This building complex is approximately 290 x 420 meters (950 x 1,380 ft.), covering an area of more than 12 hectares (30 acres), excluding exterior landscaping and vehicle parking as per Wiki. This largest Mosque in the United Arab Emirates is one of the grandest places in the world and it definitely deserves a day or half-day trip from Dubai (because I’m from Dubai). When I set foot in the vicinity I was overwhelmed with the Moorish architecture archways which the design has been inspired by quite a few Mosques with a touch of modern values of architecture and art. More than the grand, the complex will have you wear the traditional Abaya prior to entry. It’s a Mosque and you have to give respect. And personally, wearing Abaya during my first visit was even cooler than I imagined.

​Since this is the largest Mosque in the country, I was more engaged with the interior design specifically the ceilings because I’m Dope Ceiling.

Those were few of my ceiling snaps because some of them I posted already in my Instagram account of the same handle (link below this blog entry). We went during winter hence exploring and getting lost while taking tons of photos was pretty OK. In fact, the interior is already picture-perfect, you just have to play with angles. Though the coldness of the weather (and the floor – yes, shoeless while inside) definitely added a bit eerie vibe to it. And by eeriness, I don’t mean feeling strange especially when these enormous chandeliers welcomed you, HELLO.

These gorgeous crystal chandeliers weighs around 12 tons and made with gilded stainless steel and brass using roughly 40 kg. of 24 karats galvanized gold. How cool was that? Absuh-freakin’-lutely amazing! Undeniably a dream project of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan that celebrates peace and diversity with touch of modern Islamic architecture.
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That will be all, folks. Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi is definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to with lots of dazzling ceilings to gaze upon (wait, what stiff neck?) More information of the Grand Mosque is found in Wikipedia but travelling makes the information richer. Visit them!