Highlights of Abu Dhabi ,Sheikh Sayed Mosque and Louvre Museum

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8thAugust 9, 2018

Planning an easier day today, we agreed to meet for breakfast at 8am. The food selection was excellent and we all opted for a big breakfast, not being totally sure what time we may have lunch. 

Having seen nearly all of Abu Dhabi yesterday, we decided to concentrate on seeing only 2 things today, Sheikh Zayed Mosque and the new Louvre museum. Catching the 10 am Big Bus should get us to the mosque just before 11am in time for one of the organized free tours they offer. Sharon decided to put her feet up this morning, so only John set out with us. Sharon will meet up with us later at the Louvre.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque is an imposing sight and is named after the First President and founder of the UAE. It is the largest mosque in the UAE and is quite new, with construction completed in 2007. It can cater for 41,000 worshippers at a time, and covers an area of just over 12 hectares.




The Main Prayer Hall

Once we cleared security and we deemed to be suitably dressed (Carole had to wear an Abaya supplied for all women entering the mosque), an oversized electric buggy transported us to the Mosque buildings.


Carole blending in with the crowd

It was only a sort wait before the 11am tour got under way, led by a young female tour guide who was very good. The tour was conducted in English with ample opportunity to ask questions along the way, as the group was quite small.


Our tour guide guiding us up the colonnade to the North entrance


We walked to the North entrance where we were very pleased to move inside the entrance building which was air conditioned (as is the main prayer hall). Everything about the building is quite spectacular. As you would expect, marble is used extensively throughout whole complex, with different colours imported from countries all around the world. The entrance building has a white marble floor, inlaid with flower designs depicting flowers from the Northern Hemisphere. All of the designs are made of marble inlaid into the white base. 




A large chandelier adds the finishing touch, hanging down from the central dome in the ceiling.

Next we move into the main prayer hall, an enormous building covered in the Worlds largest had knotted Persian carpet. It took 1200 artisans 2 years to make the carpet, which weighs around 40 tonnes. Elaborate columns with more inlaid marble flower patterns and several chandeliers enhance this amazing structure. The main chandelier in the centre of the mosque weighs 12 tonnes.

North Entrance to main prayer hall


Main prayer hall





Hand made carpet



Chandelier in main prayer hall


Our guide takes us through the details of how the mosque functions before moving on to the South Entrance, where we see a duplicate of the extravagance of the North entrance, but this time the flower inlays on the floor depict flowers from the Southern Hemisphere.


South entrance floor

Sadly, we had to leave the air conditioning , exiting the South entrance and walking back along the side of the mosque to retrieve our shoes, return the Abaya and catch our bus to our next destination, the Louvre.

We had to wait 45 minutes for the next bus, but were able to sit in air conditioning on a spare bus that seems to be there all of the time acting as a co-ordinator. John decided to catch a taxi back to our hotel to pick up Sharon and meet us at the Louvre.

It was 2pm when we finally arrived at the Louvre and we met up with John and Sharon at the museum café for lunch, before beginning our self guided tour of the museum.

The building is spectacular and only opened in April this year. It is a very unique design , consisting of an enormous dome that is built out over the water and visually seems to float above the water. The roof is designed to allow filtered light to come through inspired by light filtering through palm fronds.




Some of the many exhibits below






The main exhibit at the moment was "Civilisations and Empires" with amazing exhibits from all over the World covering artifacts from all of  the ancient civilisations.  There were several other themed exhibits and famous artworks on display in a total of 12 halls. We were there for 3 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. I am sure it will become a major tourist magnet for Abu Dhabi. There are plans to build a Guggenheim Museum on the same Island.

By the time we got back to our hotel, it was dinner time and we are being picked up at 6 am tomorrow morning to go to the airport to catch our flight to Athens. So another early night is in order.

Whilst we only got to see 2 places today, we all agreed it was worth making the effort in this oppressive heat.




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