Muscat, Oman

Muscat مسقط Masqaṭ
Metropolis
Muscat Gate
Muscat Location of Muscat in Oman
Coordinates: 23°36′N 58°35′E / 23.600°N 58.583°ECoordinates: 23°36′N 58°35′E / 23.600°N 58.583°E
Country	Oman
Governorate	Muscat
Government
• Type	Absolute monarchy
• Sultan	Qaboos bin Said
Area
• Metro	3,500 km² (1,400 sq mi)
Population (May 2015)
• Density	368/km² (950/sq mi)
• Metro	1,560,000 ^[1]
Time zone	GST (UTC+4)
Website	Muscat Municipality

Muscat (Arabic: مسقط‎‎, Masqaṭ pronounced [ˈmasqatˤ]) is the capital and largest metropolitan city of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate reached 1.56 million as of September 2015.^[2] The metropolitan area spans approximately 3,500 km² (1,400 sq mi)^[3] and includes six provinces called wilayats.^{[citation needed]} Known since the early 1st century CE as an important trading port between the west and the east, Muscat was ruled by various indigenous tribes as well as foreign powers such as the Persians, the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire at various points in its history. A regional military power in the 18th century, Muscat's influence extended as far as East Africa and Zanzibar. As an important port-town in the Gulf of Oman, Muscat attracted foreign tradesmen and settlers such as the Persians and the Balochis. Since the ascension of Qaboos bin Said as Sultan of Oman in 1970, Muscat has experienced rapid infrastructural development that has led to the growth of a vibrant economy and a multi-ethnic society.
The rocky Western Al Hajar Mountains dominate the landscape of Muscat. The city lies on the Arabian Sea along the Gulf of Oman and is in the proximity of the strategic Straits of Hormuz. Low-lying white buildings typify most of Muscat's urban landscape, while the port-district of Muttrah, with its corniche and harbour, form the north-eastern periphery of the city. Muscat's economy is dominated by trade, petroleum and porting.

Leaving the port

The Sultan - as the guide said, "May he live forever"

Our guide, much more conservative than the guide for my tour in 2012

The real fruit in the Garden of Eden

First glimpse of the mosque

Warder to make sure females were properly dressed = covered

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Basic information
Location	Muscat, Oman
Affiliation	Islam
Country	Oman
Architectural description
Architectural style	Contemporary Islamic
Completed	May 2001
Specifications
Capacity	20,000
Minaret(s)	5

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is the main mosque in the Sultanate of Oman. It is in the capital city of Muscat.

Construction

In 1992 Sultan Qaboos directed that his country of Oman should have a Grand Mosque. A competition for its design took place in 1993 and after a site was chosen at Bausher construction commenced in December of 1994. Building work, which was undertaken by Carillion Alawi LLC^[1] took six years and seven months.^[2]
The mosque is built from 300,000 tonnes of Indian sandstone. The main musalla (prayer hall) is square (external dimensions 74.4 x 74.4 metres) with a central dome rising to a height of fifty metres above the floor.^[3] The dome and the main minaret (90 metres) and four flanking minarets (45.5 metres) are the mosque’s chief visual features. The main musalla can hold over 6,500 worshippers, while the women’s musalla can accommodate 750 worshipers. The outer paved ground can hold 8,000 worshipers and there is additional space available in the interior courtyard and the passageways, making a total capacity of up to 20,000 worshipers.^[4]
The mosque is built on a site occupying 416,000 square metres^[3] and the complex extends to cover an area of 40,000 square metres. The newly built Grand Mosque was inaugurated by Sultan of Oman on May 4, 2001.

Washing hands and feet before entering the mosque

The basin is full of moth balls - camphor - to cover the smell of thousands of feet

From Wikipedia:

A major feature of the design of the interior is the prayer carpet which covers the floor of the prayer hall. It contains, 1,700,000,000 knots, weighs 21 tonnes and took four years to produce, and brings together the classical Persian Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan design traditions. 28 colors in varying shades were used, the majority obtained from traditional vegetable dyes. It is the second largest single piece carpet in the world. This hand-woven carpet was produced by Iran Carpet Company (ICC) at the order of the Diwan of the Royal Court of Sultanate. The carpet measures over 70 × 60 meters, and covers the 4,343 square meter area of the praying hall.