Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

It is Ramadan at the moment so I thought I'd post something relating to it, and thought a mosque postcard would be appropriate. For some reason I find mosque postcards really fascinating - these buildings always look so impressive and beautiful, with lots of details.

As you can read on the card above, Abu Dhabi's grand mosque is one of the largest mosques in the world and can accommodate more than 30,000 worshippers. Aisha, who sent me this card, tells me that Aladdin's palace from the Disney cartoon was inspired by this mosque! Inside the mosque is heavily ornated with 24Kt gold.

 The mosque's design and construction 'unites the world', using artisans and materials from many countries including Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece and of course the United Arab Emirates. More than 3,000 workers and 38 renowned contracting companies took part in the construction of the mosque. Natural materials were chosen for much of its design and construction due to their long-lasting qualities, including marble, stone, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics. Construction began on November 5, 1996.