Saudi Arabia launches largest expansion project for Islam’s historic first mosque
Quba Mosque will undergo an extensive expansion programme to increase capacity to 66,000 people
Saudi Arabia has announced the launch of the King Salman Project, which will encompass the largest expansion undertaken in the history of Quba Mosque, Islam’s first mosque, and the development of its surrounding areas.
According to a report by SPA, the project, named after the Saudi King, will see the total area of the Quba Mosque expanded to 50,000sqm, approximately ten times its current area. Once completed, it will be able to accommodate 66,000 worshippers.
It added that this would be the largest expansion in the mosque’s history, since its establishment in the first year of the Prophet’s Hijra.
HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs launched the project and said that it is aimed at documenting the historical characteristics of Quba Centre, preserving its urban and old-fashioned architecture as well as protecting and preserving the historical monuments located near the mosque, it added.
“This project comes to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 within the two programs of serving pilgrims and the quality of life, as it will raise the area of the mosque from 5,035sqm to 50,000sqm and the project as well as the efficiency of this historical Islamic landmark with the aim of enriching its visitor’s experience,” he said as per the report.
The project also includes the development and revival of historical sites to include 57 sites covering many wells, farms and orchards and linking three of the Prophet’s paths, it added.
The project is based on linking the current Quba Mosque with shaded courtyards from four sides, functionally and visually connected to the independent prayer halls that are not structurally attached to the current mosque building, while providing all the necessary services belonging to the mosque.
The efficiency of the existing mosque building will be raised with the accompanying services system, the improvement of the road network and the surrounding infrastructure to raise the efficiency of gathering, ease of access to the mosque, find radical solutions to overcrowding and enhance the security and safety of worshipers, in addition to developing and reviving a number of sites and prophetic monuments within the mosque and its squares.
