Grand Mosque
The Mosque is built on a site occupying 416,000 m2 (4,480,000 sq. ft.) and the complex extends to cover an area of 40,000 m2 (430,000 sq. ft.), the newly built Grand Mosque was inaugurated by the Sultan of Oman on May 4, 2001, the mosque is made of stone, with doors, windows, and embellishments made of wood and glass, around 300,000 tons of Indian sandstone was imported to build the mosque.
Five minarets have been built around the premises of the mosque the main minaret (90 meters, 300 ft.) in height, and the four flanking minarets (45.5 meters, 149 ft.)
The prayer hall is square in shape and 74.4 by 74.4 meters (244 by 244 feet) has a central dome rising to a height of 50 meters (160 ft.) above the floor, the dome is embellished spectacularly from the inside and it is major tourist attraction in itself, the main Musalla (Prayer Room) can hold over 6500 worshippers, while the women’s Musalla (Prayer Room)can accommodate 750 worshipers, the outer paved ground can hold 8000 worshipers and there is additional space available in the interior courtyard and the passageways, making a total capacity of up to 20,000 worshipers.
The major design of the interior is the prayer carpet which covers the floor of the prayer hall, it contains, 1,700,000,000 knots, weighs 21 tons and took four years to produce, and brings together the classical Persian Tabriz, Kashan, and Isfahan design traditions 28 colors in varying shades were used, the majority obtained from traditional vegetable dyes, it used to be the largest single-piece carpet in the world, but is now the second, after the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the UAE This hand-woven carpet was produced by Iran Carpet Company (ICC) at the order of the Diwan of the Royal Court of Sultanate of Oman, the carpet measures over 70 by 60 meters (230 by 200 feet), and covers 4,343 m2 (46,750 sq. ft.) area of the praying hall.
Dress code: Women should wear attire covering their arms and legs and should cover their heads with a scarf. Men should wear a normal shirt and trousers)
Nizwa Market (Souq)
From the Grand Mosque, we'll drive towards Nizwa, Nizwa was the capital of Oman during the Al Yaruba Dynasty, we'll visit the famous Nizwa Souq (Market), A wide variety of vendors offer their goods in the streets of the souk, where you can find, vegetables, pottery, jewelry, handicrafts Omani sweets (Halwa), spice, dates, and souvenirs which are sold in authentic old market halls that few places can boast, especially interesting is the Friday cattle market when the locals come to sell their, goats, cattle, sheep and chickens in a circus style open market place.
Nizwa Fort
Next to the Souq is Nizwa Fort and Castle the fort was built in 1649 and the castle was built in 888, the Fort is a museum today and offers splendid views of this ancient town and the surrounding mountains, you can walk around in this impressive Fort and Castle many passages rooms.
The Fort is an architectural testimony to the economic and military achievements of the early Yaruba dynasty from the mid-17th century, It was a military stronghold designed to withstand even the strongest of attacks at the time, even along the corridors, many traps were laid to deter any intruders that might have penetrated the defenses.
