HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, has launched the King Salman Project, which is an expansion project targetted at Islam’s first mosque and its surrounding areas.
The King Salman Project will see the total area of the Quba Mosque being expanded to 50,000 m2, around ten times its current area. Once completed, it will be able to accommodate 66,000 worshipers, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
This is the largest expansion in the history of Quba Mosque since its establishment in the first year of the Prophet’s Hijra, it stated.
Prince Mohammed stated the project is aimed at documenting the historical characteristics of Quba Center, preserving its urban and old-fashioned architecture as well as protecting and preserving the historical monuments located near the mosque.
Commenting on the project, he noted: “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 5,035 m2 to 50,000 m2 and the project as well as the efficiency of this historical Islamic landmark with the aim of enriching its visitor’s experience.”
Quba mosque upgrade to raise efficiencies
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, the SPA report 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, and 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. This will be done 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.
Author
