Egypt's Islamic Cultural Center, including Masjid Misr or the Grand Mosque, is a religious and architectural landmark located in the New Administrative Capital in Cairo Governorate, Egypt.[1] The center covers an area of 467,000 square meters, and can accommodate 137,000 people.[2][3]
At its completion, the cultural center received three international certificates from the Guinness World Records.[1] They included the world's largest pulpit handcrafted from wood and standing at 16.6 meters in height, and the chandelier won two titles as the world's largest with a diameter of 22 meters, and the heaviest at a weight of 50 tons.[1]
History
In 2015, the concept for Egypt's purpose-built New Administrative Capital was introduced.[4] In 2019, the first major religious buildings serving the new city, the Al-Fattah al-Aleem Mosque and a Coptic Orthodox cathedral, were completed.[5][6] Early in 2021, plans to build Masjid Misr, a larger mosque, were announced, and this project was finished in 2022.[7][8] Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi formally launched the Islamic Cultural Centre in March 2023.[9]
Architecture
The Grand Mosque
Situated near the Presidential Axis, Route 11, and People's Square to the north, the center is located in the Governmental District. It is situated on a plateau that is 24 meters high and has the Mohamed Bin Zayed Northern Road as its southern boundary.[10] The Grand Mosque, a library, an Islamic museum, a conference center, ceremonial halls, classrooms, retail stores, and a seven-story parking structure with room for 3,000 cars are all part of the complex.[11][12]
Egypt's Grand Mosque draws influence from the scenery of the Nile Delta to combine modern design features with traditional Islamic architectural aspects. The outside design of the mosque is modeled after a lotus blossom in bloom, signifying purity and the advancement of spirituality. Inside are calligraphy, intricate geometric designs, and other elements of Islamic creative culture.[citation needed]
The mosque is flanked by two minarets that rise 140 meters above the top courtyard, and it contains six halls, including the central prayer hall.[12] The steel center dome measures 29.5 meters in diameter.[13] This mosque broke three records: it features the largest chandelier in the world, measuring 22 meters in diameter, the heaviest chandelier, weighing 24,300 kg, and the tallest pulpit in the world, standing at 16.6 meters.[13] With 12,000 seats in the main prayer hall, 40,000 in the upper hall, and 55,000 in the basement hall, the 19,000 square meter mosque can hold 107,000 worshipers.[9]
The mosque has two levels, with three main entrances and a fourth for services. The first level is 20 meters high, while the second level reaches the pinnacle of the dome at 57 meters.[14] There are separate domes for the east and west halls as well. The mosque's secondary and upper courtyards are connected by service buildings and a commercial culture center.[9] The mosque is surrounded by 30-thousand square meters of white marble. There are two arcades located on its east and on its west.[2]
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