North Africa Morocco Tunisia Tour (16) The third largest mosque in the world - Hassan II Mosque

North Africa Morocco Tunisia Tour (16) The world's third largest mosque - Hassan II Mosque Marrakech-Casablanca December 20, 2024 Sunny to cloudy, 9-20 degrees. We arrived as scheduled today, and will return to our first stop in Morocco - Casablanca - ten days later to complete the planned check-ins. After lunch, visit the Hassan II Mosque. The Hassan II Mosque (Figure 1) is located in the northwest of Qatar and the westernmost part of the Islamic world. The construction of the mosque is directly related to the late King Hassan II. Construction began in 1987 and was completed in 1993. It covers an area of ​​9 hectares, one-third of which is built on the Atlantic Ocean to commemorate the Arab ancestors of Morocco who came from the sea. It has unique significance for the local people. The entire mosque's inner and outer halls can accommodate 100,000 people praying at the same time. It is the third largest mosque in the world and also a young mosque, ranking behind the Mecca and Medina Mosques in Saudi Arabia in terms of size and status. The mosque was designed and built by a French company. It is a typical Arabic-style building with a minaret 107 meters high. The jade pillars in the corridors inside and outside the hall are majestic. The building materials are luxurious and the interior is exquisitely made. It has become a pilgrimage site for Muslims in the surrounding area and a new landmark building in Casablanca (Figure 2-7). In the morning, we visited the Menara Park before leaving Marrakech. Driving through the new city, it is spacious and peaceful, in stark contrast to the crowded and noisy old city of yesterday. Menara Park, a tranquil oasis in Marrakech, dates back to the 12th century. It is most famous for the artificial lake in the park and the traditional Moroccan tiled house built in the 19th century on the lakeside. With its simple yet elegant design, it has become the landmark building of the park (Figure 8). At 9:00 p.m., enjoy dinner at Rick’s Café in Casablanca, one of the main scenes of the classic movie “Casablanca.” In fact, this cafe was moved here based on the movie scenes: the low-hanging palm trees, arched corridors, white exterior walls and dim yellow lights create a nostalgic and retro atmosphere of Morocco. Feel the thrilling romantic atmosphere in the movie here and put a perfect end to your trip to Morocco (Figure 9). Today, we are halfway through the 10-day trip to Morocco and have completed it successfully. Tomorrow morning we will fly to Tunis, our first stop in Tunisia, our second country.