Pakistan’s Faisal Mosque has been listed amongst 50 most beautiful buildings in the world.
The announcement of listing of Islamabad’s Faisal Mosque as 16th most beautiful building in the world was made by official twitter account of US Embassy in Islamabad.
Faisal Mosque world’s fifth-largest and South Asia’s largest mosque has been ranked as the 16th most beautiful building in the world by Roofing Megastore, read the official statement.
#DidYouKnow Faisal Mosque in Islamabad has been listed among the 50 most beautiful buildings in the world? The world’s fifth-largest and South Asia’s largest mosque has been ranked as the 16th most beautiful building in the world by Roofing Megastore.
Photo: Syed Bilal Javaid pic.twitter.com/ShT5eZFHG1— U.S. Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) April 8, 2021
The mosque is a major tourist attraction in Pakistan, showcasing contemporary and influential piece of Islamic architecture and features eight sides of concrete shell and is inspired by the design of a typical Bedouin tent.
Completed in 1986, the mosque is named after Saudi King Faisal, and was designed by Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay.
Faisal Mosque held the honor of being the largest mosque in the world from 1986 till 1993.
Covering an area of 33 acres (130,000 m2; 1,400,000 sq ft), the mosque an accommodate about 300,000 worshippers.
Distinctive Architecture
Faisal Mosque reflects contemporary Islamic architecture as Vedat Dalokay esigned an eight-sided main hall that looked like an Arab’s Bedouin desert tent. Additionally, he added four minarets on all four corners of the main hall, which are of 80 m (260 ft) high, the tallest minarets in South Asia. The main structure of the building is the main prayer hall, which is supported by four concrete girders. The four unusual minarets are inspired by Turkish architecture. Vedat Dalokay also believed that the design of the Masjid represents Kaaba in an abstract manner. Entrance is from the east, where the prayer hall is fronted by a courtyard with porticoes.
Each of the Mosque’s four minarets are 79 m (259 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measure 10×10 metres in circumference.
The mosque still houses a library, lecture hall, museum, and cafe. The interior of the main tent-shaped hall is covered in white marble and decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain, and a spectacular Turkish-style chandelier. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall and has the Kalimah written in early Kufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern
