Casablanca (Part I) - A "Somewhere Sunday" Post

Introducing "Somewhere Sunday" a new weekly series featuring locations we've had the good fortune to visit before and between house sitting adventures.  We hope you'll join us each Sunday for the journey!  We begin our series with a trip to the exotic locale of Morocco.

Doors of the Grand Mosquee Hassan II 

The minaret is topped by a laser that shines
its light toward Mecca. 

This week's "Somewhere Sunday" takes us to Casablanca, Morocco to visit The Mosque Hassan II, the 7th largest mosque in the world.  Because it is so large, we'll work our way around the exterior of the mosque this week and return next Sunday for a tour of the interior.

King Hussan II wanted to build the 2nd largest mosque in the world to honor King Mohammed V but he had to settle for a mere seventh.  But the mosque does have the tallest minaret in the world.  At 690 feet, photographs just can't capture its towering presence. The mosque took 17 years to build with 35,000 people working an estimated 50 million hours. Designed by French architect Michel Pinseau it is a masterpiece of blended architectural styles featuring Moroccan, Islamic and Moorish design. The exterior of the mosque is faced in bronze, granite, titanium and intricate tile mosaics. One of King Hassan II's requirements for the structure was that it must be constructed half on land and half over the Atlantic ocean. Today, you can view the sea bed through the mosque's glass floor!