Hassan II Mosque
The Hassan II Mosque is a mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the second largest functioning mosque in Africa and is the 14th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world's second tallest minaret at. Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau under the guidance of King Hassan II and built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The minaret is 60 stories high topped by a laser, the light from which is directed towards Mecca. The mosque stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean; worshippers can pray over the sea but there is no glass floor looking into the sea. The walls are of hand-crafted marble and the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque's outside ground.
Geography
The mosque is located at Bd Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah in Casablanca. The complex nestles between the harbor and the El Hank Lighthouse. From the nearest train station at it is about a 20-minute walk to the mosque. The ten-lane boulevard with shopping avenues is at the southern facade of the mosque and extends to the gates of the Palace Oued el Makhazine in the middle of the city. The basilical plan of the mosque justifies this layout of the boulevard.The mosque rises above the Atlantic Ocean. The building is built partially on land and partially over the ocean. This siting was accomplished by creating a platform linking a natural rock outcrop reclaimed from the sea, where the Orthlieb Pool had previously been located. Two large breakwaters were also built, to protect the mosque from the erosive action of the ocean waves, which can be up to in height. A temporary pier in length had to be erected to protect the foundations of the pillars from the sea during the construction period. Its environmental advantage is that it is free of noise and pollution and receives a fresh breeze from the sea.
Apart from the mosque, other structures in the area are a madrasa, hammams, a museum on Moroccan history, conference halls, and a very large library said to be the "most comprehensive in the Islamic world." The 41 fountains in the courtyard are all well decorated. The garden around the mosque is well tended and is a popular location for family picnics. The traditionally designed madrasa occupies an area of including the basement. Two stories in height, it is constructed in a semi-circular shape, with abutting qibla wall and the mihrab section.
History
The historical context of the mosque began with the death of King Mohammed V in 1961. King Hassan II had requested for the best of the country's artisans to come forward and submit plans for a mausoleum to honour the departed king; it should "reflect the fervor and veneration with which this illustrious man was regarded." However, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V was eventually sited in Rabat rather than Casablanca.In 1980, during his birthday celebrations, Hassan II made his ambitions clear for creating a landmark monument in Casablanca:
The building was commissioned by King Hassan II to be the most ambitious structure ever built in Morocco. It was designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau, who had lived in Morocco, and was constructed by the civil engineering group Bouygues.
Work commenced on July 12, 1986, and was conducted over a seven-year period. Construction was scheduled to be completed in 1989 ready for Hassan II's 60th birthday. During the most intense period of construction, 1400 men worked during the day and another 1100 during the night. 10,000 artists and craftsmen participated in building and beautifying the mosque. However, the building was not completed on schedule, which delayed inauguration. The formal inauguration was subsequently chosen to be the 11th Rabi' al-Awwal of the year 1414 of the Hijra, corresponding to 30 August 1993, which also marked the eve of the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s birth. It was dedicated to the Sovereign of Morocco.
Financing
Construction costs, estimated to be about 585 million euros, were an issue of debate in Morocco, a lower mid-income country. While Hassan wished to build a mosque which would be second in size only to the mosque at Mecca, the government lacked funds for such a grand project. Much of the financing was by public subscription. Twelve million people donated to the cause, with a receipt and certificate given to every donor. The smallest contribution was 5 DH. In addition to public donations and those from business establishments as well as other countries, Western countries provided construction loans, which Morocco repaid.Architecture and fittings
In the words of the authors of the book Morocco Country Study Guide, the Hassan II Mosque "undeniably marks the continuity of a modernized ancestral art and bears the sign of innovations that are due not only to technical reasons but also to a fertile exploration of new aesthetic possibilities." The building dimensions are in length and in width. All of the granite, plaster, marble, wood and other materials used in the construction, were extracted from around Morocco, with the exception of some Italian white granite columns and 56 glass chandeliers. Six thousand traditional Moroccan artisans worked for five years to create the abundant and beautiful mosaics, stone and marble floors and columns, sculpted plaster moldings, and carved and painted wood ceilings. The exterior surfaces of the mosque display titanium, bronze, and granite finishes. It is ornamented with pale blue marble and Zellige tilework. A particular feature in the mosque is that all structures are made of reinforced cement concrete and all decorations are of traditional Moroccan design. The construction work involved engagement of 35,000 workers and working of over 50 million hours. The mosque has capacity to accommodate 25,000 devotees for prayers in the main hall and another 80,000 in the plaza squares around it.Notable architectural features include the conspicuous columns, the horseshoe arches, and the innumerable muqarnas embellishing the ceilings. The dome, arches and walls give a grand ambiance to the mosque. The first-class sound system is discreetly hidden. The ablution room and a vast public hammam are in the basement, with its own entrance. Tadelakt, a plastering technique which adds egg yolks and black soap into mixed plaster, was used in the hammam baths.
Design
The building blends Islamic architecture and Moroccan elements, and reflects Moorish influences, while featuring an urban design. It displays elements found in other Moroccan buildings such as the unfinished mosque in Rabat and the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh. There are features from an old Roman fort converted into the Tomb of King Mohammed V. Other elements come from the Hassan Tower Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, the Great Mosque of Madina, Kairouan Mosque in Tunisia, the Great Mosque of Damascus, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, Quarawiyyin Mosque in Morocco, the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, and Djamaa el Kebir. Its layout is known as the basilican plan, which is different from the common practice of a T-shaped plan adopted in many North African countries. The qibla wall is perpendicular to the naves which is said to be an unconventional layout, given that it is customary for the rows of worshipers facing Mecca to be as wide as possible rather than extend farther back. The adoption of this plan has been described as "a conflict between King Hassan II the ancient aristocrat and King Hassan II the contemporary leader who must develop commerce and industry in order meet the needs of his country."Prayer hall
The prayer hall is on the top of the mosque covered in windows The central hall is centrally heated, and provides spectacular underwater views of the Atlantic Ocean. The decorations in the hall are elaborate and exquisite made possible by involving 6,000 master artisans of Morocco working on it. It is so large that it can easily accommodate a Gothic cathedral such as Notre-Dame de Paris. The woodcarvings, the zellij work and the stucco mouldings are of elaborate and highly impressive design; the wood used for carving is cedar from the middle Atlas Mountains, the marble is from Agadir and granite is brought from Tafraoute.The prayer hall is built to a rectangular plan of length and width with three naves, which are perpendicular to the qibla wall. The central nave of the hall is and larger than the side naves which are high. The central hall is undulating with a succession of numerous domes from which glass chandeliers, imported from Murano, are hung. On either side of the hall, there are mezzanine floors with carved dark wood furnishings, which are reserved for women. The doors are electrically operated. A triptyich marble partition with open work and central window flanked by two smaller sized windows are built on the wall of the façade. Such panels, built with multicolored arches, engraved with ornamented floral designs, appear like a geometrical framework when viewed from the outside. The gates are embellished with marble bars which have faux voussoirs. The pillars of height are square in shape with engaged columns and cruciform joining a series of pillars. Geometrically shaped polychromatic zellji with carved plaster are noted with floral and geometric designs with epigraphy. Carved or painted marble or shaped wood are used for these elegant designs, which highlight Islamic art forms.
The roof is retractable, illuminating the hall with daytime sunlight and allowing worshippers to pray under the stars on clear nights. It weighs 1,100 tons and can be opened in five minutes; it measures high, with an area of. The roof is covered with cast-aluminium tiles,, stronger and more reliable than traditional ceramic tiles, and about 35 percent lighter. The prayer hall is also illuminated by light from the glass gates on the northern wall.