Vedat Dalokay, a Turkish architect, won the 1969 international competition for the Faisal Mosque, in which architects from 17 countries submitted 43 proposals. The Saudi government funded the mosque, and King Faisal had backed the Pakistani plan for a national mosque in 1966. Construction began in 1976, when King Khalid laid the foundation stone, and the mosque was completed in 1986. The first prayer was held on June 18, 1988.
The mosque has no traditional dome. Eight-sided, sloping concrete shell roofs form a triangular worship hall, and the overall shape is inspired by a Bedouin tent. Four Ottoman-style minarets rise 300 feet (90 m), the tallest in South Asia. The infobox style is Modern Islamic.
The worship hall holds 10,000, and the total capacity is about 300,000. It stands at the foot of the Margalla Hills, and it was the world's largest mosque from 1986 to 1993.
Comments