Grand Mosque expansion project begins
August 19, 2011
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz will patronize the stone-laying ceremony today for the expansion project at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. The plans involve construction on the northern part of the facility and will cover approximately 400,000 square meters. Once the work is completed, the Grand Mosque will be able to accommodate more than 1.2 million worshippers. Officials said that the cost of the improvements is estimated at more than SR 40 billion [$10.67 billion]. The current expansion of the Grand Mosque will be the biggest in the history of the Kingdom and is being undertaken to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims and visitors who come to the holy site from around the globe.While in the city, King Abdullah will also inaugurate the Makkah Clock Tower, the world’s highest structure of its kind.
