The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque was built between 1995 and 2001 in Indian sandstone, a complex of prayer halls, courtyards, arcades and gardens holding around twenty thousand worshippers. The main prayer hall carries a single Persian carpet, knotted by six hundred weavers over four years and covering more than four thousand square metres, and a chandelier of Swarovski crystal fourteen metres high, both of which were the largest of their kind when installed. The arcades around the courtyard are decorated in a sequence of regional Islamic styles. It is one of the few grand mosques in the Gulf that admits non-Muslim visitors, on weekday mornings only and under a strict dress code.

What you actually see

• The main prayer hall - the single Persian carpet and the crystal chandelier.
• The courtyard arcades - the sequence of regional Islamic decorative styles.
• The minarets - the five towers around the complex.
• The gardens - the planted grounds surrounding the mosque.

When to go

October to April for comfortable weather. Non-Muslim visiting is restricted to weekday mornings, usually around eight to eleven, and closed on Fridays; check current hours before going. Arrive early to avoid tour groups.

Honest expectations

The dress code is enforced: long sleeves and long trousers or skirt for everyone, and a headscarf covering the hair for women, with no exceptions. Visiting hours are short and the mosque closes to visitors well before midday. Photography rules vary by area. Tour groups fill the prayer hall late in the window.

Nearby

Mutrah and old Muscat lie east; the opera house is close by.