Hassan II : Ornate mosque in Casablanca

Next to the north Atlantic, right off the water is the modern and spectacular mosque Hassan II, built in late 1990s and is the largest functioning mosque in Africa.

The striking feature of the mosque, its minaret, is 210 meters high and the second tallest in the world.

The detailed carving and filigree on the minaret is astounding.

Adjoining the mosque is a museum which looks quite elegant. When I visited during the late afternoon, I barely time to visit the mosque and was probably the last person to get into the doors.

The grand entrance to the minaret has a very finely carved gigantic gate.

The entrance to the mosque was on the left of the minaret entrance and had another finely crafted metal gate set in beautiful overlapping arches.

The vast interior of the mosque featured many chandeliers, marble columns with decorated arches, many doors that let in light from outside through their several circular windows.

The marble floor was glistening and reflected the light from the chandeliers above. There were cutouts in the floor that showed the hammams on the floor below.

The rich, finely decorated supports and intricate designs on the ceiling added to the opulence of the mosque.

The pillars had a similar design in four directions.

A long corridor had a mezzanine floor to accommodate more attendees during the prayers.

The door below faced the Atlantic Ocean and you could sea the ocean water when peeping out of it.

The view of hammam from the cutouts in the floor is seen below.

The colorful artistic patterns in the marble floor were beautiful.

A plaque with Arabic writing was on one of the pillars.

To go to the hammams, you walk out of the mosque and pass through this vestibule.

The marble walls had tiles from the ground up to a few feet and had very colorful geometric design.

The gates had a design in metal.

The hammams area was huge and had many places for people to sit for ablutions.

From the hammams you could see the cutouts in the ceiling to see the main mosque area above.

From outside the mosque you could see the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful setting of this exquisite mosque.