Prayer room at the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, Morocco by Rene Siebring

About "Prayer room at the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, Morocco"

by Rene Siebring

About the artwork

The prayer hall is on the ground floor. The central hall is centrally heated, and provides spectacular underwater views of the Atlantic Ocean. The decorations in the hall are elaborate and exquisite made possible by involving 6000 master artisans of Morocco working on it. It is so large that it can easily accommodate the house of the Notre Dame of Paris or St Peter's of Rome. The wood carvings, the zellij work and the stucco moldings are of elaborate and highly impressive design; the wood used for carving is cedar from the middle Atlas mountains, the marble is from Agadir and granite is brought from Tafraoute.The prayer hall is built to a rectangular plan of 200 meters (660 ft) length and 100 meters (330 ft) width with three naves, which are perpendicular to the qibla wall. The central nave of the hall is 40 meters (130 ft) and larger than the side naves which are 27 meters (89 ft) high. The central hall is undulating with a succession of numerous domes from which glass chandeliers, imported from Murano, are hung. On either side of the hall, there are mezzanine floors with carved dark wood furnishings, which are reserved for women. The doors are electrically operated. A "triptych marble partition with open work and central window flanked by two smaller sized windows" are built on the wall of the façade. Such panels, built with multicolored arches, engraved with ornamented floral designs, appear like a geometrical framework when viewed from the outside. The gates are embellished with marble bars which have faux voussoirs (alternately smooth or sculpted). The pillars of 13 meters (43 ft) height are square in shape with engaged columns and cruciform joining a series of pillars. Geometrically shaped polychromatic zellji with carved plaster are noted with floral and geometric designs with epigraphy. Carved or painted marble or shaped wood are used for these elegant designs, which highlight Islamic art forms.The roof is retractable, illuminating the hall with daytim