Construction of Al Noor mosque begins

The multi-million Al Noor landmark mosque which can hold about 3,000 worshippers is being constructed at Al Majaz Public Park near Khalid Lagoon in Sharjah.

An official from the architect's office yesterday told Gulf News that the mosque's design was derived from Turkish mosques. The official said it would take 15 months to build. He would not give a figure for its cost.

Work on the mosque started after the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) retail outlet in Al Majaz Park had been demolished.

The project was given to Al Darwish Contractors. The final designs of the project are under preparation, he said.

The landmark mosque will be built on 16,000 square feet at the centre of Park.

The mosque, which is the first in the emirate to emulate the Turkish architectural style, will look similar to the Aya Sofia mosque in Istanbul.

"A team of engineers visited Istanbul in order to obtain an artist's impression of the project," said the source. "The shapes of minarets, domes and arches as well as the frontal decorations of the mosques there have been studied."

All outer elevations of the mosque will be in reinforced concrete while the internal decorations will be of plaster and marble. The mosque will have a large central dome of about 10.5 metres in diameter and another four half domes of the same size will intersect with the central one.

There will be another 16 small domes of two sizes: 2 and 3.7 metres in diameter, he said.

There will be four minarets at the four corners, 55 metres high and about 3 metres in diameter.

"The lowest part of the minarets will be square, then the shape will change into a cylinder," said the source.

"Each minaret will end in a needle-shape with a severe slopping towards the cylinder. The needle end of the minarets will distinguish the mosque from other mosques in the emirate," the source said.

The mosque will have three entrances. Arches will decorate the mosque internally and externally.
There will be a special section for women which will accommodate 250 worshippers. The men's section will cater to 2,500 worshippers.