Cairo: Crescents at the Grand Mosque, Islami’s holiest site in the Saudi city of Mecca, are now complete with the installation of the last one.
The golden crescent has been installed on the minaret of the mosque’s Al Fatah Gate, according to an official video.
A landmark of the Islamic architecture, there are 13 minarets at the Grand Mosque, with a golden crescent topping each.
The crescent is made of highly durable carbon fiber and painted with a golden colour to preserve its beauty and gleam, the Saudi General Authority for Care of the Two Holy Mosques said.
The minaret is more than 13 metres long with the crescent being nearly nine metres long and a two-metre-wide base.
The Grand Mosque houses the Holy Kaaba that Muslims around the world direct in their prayers.
Millions of Muslims from inside and outside Saudi Arabia flock to the mosque to pray and perform Umrah or minor pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia expects around 10 million Muslims from abroad to undertake Umrah during the current season that got underway more than three months ago.
The season began after the end of annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage that around 1.8 million Muslims attended in and around Mecca for the first time in three years after pandemic-related restrictions were lifted.
Muslims, who cannot physically or financially afford Hajj, go to Saudi Arabia to undertake Umrah at the Grand Mosque.
In recent months, Saudi Arabia has unveiled a host of facilities for overseas Muslims to come to the country to perform Umrah.
