Mosques

Places of prayer for those of the Islam faith. They are everywhere. But this one, is a biggee. The Hassan II Mosque in Casblanca is the third largest in the world. It was built for the King's 60th birthday and was opened in 1993. Our tour guide told is it took 6 years to complete, and that was with people working 24 hours a day. It has a heated floor, electronic doors (some of them open like garage doors), and a retractable roof/ceiling. The details inside are absolutely amazing.Check out  The Lonely Planet's review of the mosque at this link. It gives some more details about it as well. If you google it, you can see more pictures as well. We were told to be respectful of the culture, and thus had to have our legs and arms covered as much as possible. The ceilings were just amazing in every part of the mosque. We got to go downstairs where the big pool/bath is, and the individul 'cleansing stations' if you will. I think they looked like mushrooms. :) It was very hot down there, because it's basically a steam bath. Definitely a 'touristy' thing to do, but I loved taking that tour and seeing the inside. From my apartment, I can see the tip of the mosque. Even more amazing when it's lit up at night. A few of us walked down there tonight to see it. Such an amazing glow of light. We just sat there talking, looking, watching people come and go from prayer sessions, and listening to the ocean waves. And then we went and ate gellato. It was a good night!  (Will add more pics when I'm not so tired...hopefully)

one of the lower celings of mosque

not sure what it's called, but basically it's a
place where men cleanse their feet and hands

doorway inside the mosque

women's entrance to the mosque

Mosque tower