The Hassan II Mosque () is a mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the second largest mosque in Africa and one of the largest mosques in the world. Its minaret is the world's second tallest minaret at . Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau under the guidance of King Hassan II and built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The minaret is 60 stories high, topped by a laser, the light from which is directed towards Mecca. The mosque stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean; worshippers can pray over the sea but there is no glass floor looking into the sea. The walls are made of handcrafted marble, and the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque's outside ground.
Geography
left|thumb|View of the mosque in Boulevard Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah
The mosque is located at Bd. Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah in Casablanca. The complex nestles between the harbor and the El Hank Lighthouse.
From the nearest train station at , it is about a 20-minute walk to the mosque. The ten-lane boulevard with shopping avenues is at the southern facade of the mosque and extends to the gates of the Palace Oued el Makhazine in the middle of the city. The basilical plan of the mosque justifies this layout of the boulevard.
thumb|left|A view from beach at sunrise.
The mosque rises above the Atlantic Ocean. The building is built partially on land and partially over the ocean. This siting was accomplished by creating a platform linking a natural rock outcrop reclaimed from the sea, in the courtyard are all well decorated. The garden around the mosque is well-tended and is a popular location for family picnics. The traditionally designed madrasa occupies an area of including the basement. Two stories in height, it is constructed in a semi-circular shape, with an abutting qibla wall and the mihrab section.
History
The historical context of the mosque began with the death of King Mohammed V in 1961. King Hassan II had requested for the best of the country's artisans to come forward and submit plans for a mausoleum to honour the departed king; it should "reflect the fervor and veneration with which this illustrious man was regarded." However, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V was eventually sited in Rabat rather than Casablanca.
In 1980, during his birthday celebrations, Hassan II made his ambitions clear for creating a landmark monument in Casablanca: It was designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau, who had lived in Morocco, and was constructed by the civil engineering group Bouygues. and was conducted over a seven-year period. Construction was scheduled to be completed in 1989, ready for Hassan II's 60th birthday. During the most intense period of construction, 1400 men worked during the day and another 1100 during the night. 10,000 artists and craftsmen participated in building and beautifying the mosque. Twelve million people donated to the cause, with a receipt and certificate given to every donor. A particular feature in the mosque is that all structures are made of reinforced cement concrete and all decorations are of traditional Moroccan design. The construction work involved the engagement of 35,000 workers and working of over 50 million hours. The mosque has the capacity to accommodate 25,000 devotees for prayers in the main hall and another 80,000 in the plaza squares around it.
left|thumb|Ablution hall
Notable architectural features include the conspicuous columns, the horseshoe arches, and the innumerable muqarnas embellishing the ceilings. The dome, arches, and walls give a grand ambiance to the mosque. The first-class sound system is discreetly hidden. Tadelakt, a plastering technique which adds egg yolks and black soap into mixed plaster, was used in the hammam baths.
Design
thumb|Main entrance door
The building blends Islamic architecture and Moroccan elements, and reflects Moorish influences, while featuring an urban design. It displays elements found in other Moroccan buildings, such as the unfinished mosque in Rabat and the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh.
There are features from an old Roman fort converted into the Tomb of King Mohammed V. Other elements come from the Hassan Tower Mosque, the Dome of the Rock (also known as Qubbat al Sakhra 688–692 AD), the Prophet's Mosque (705–710 AD), Kairouan Mosque in Tunisia (663 AD), the Great Mosque of Damascus (705–715 AD), the Great Mosque of Cordoba (785–786 AD), Quarawiyyin Mosque (956 and 1135 AD) in Morocco, the Great Mosque of Tlemcen (1136), and Djamaa el Kebir (1096).
Its layout is known as the basilican plan, which is different from the common practice of a T-shaped plan adopted in many North African countries.
The qibla wall is perpendicular to the naves, which is said to be an unconventional layout, given that it is customary for the rows of worshipers facing Mecca to be as wide as possible rather than extend farther back (Halod and Khan 1997, 61).
The adoption of this plan has been described as "a conflict between King Hassan II, the ancient aristocrat, and King Hassan II, the contemporary leader who must develop commerce and industry in order meet the needs of his country."
Prayer hall
left|thumb|Inside |250x250px
thumb|Inside
The prayer hall is on the top of the mosque, covered in windows. The central hall is centrally heated and provides spectacular underwater views of the Atlantic Ocean. The decorations in the hall are elaborate and exquisite, made possible by involving 6,000 master artisans of Morocco working on it.
left|thumb|Moorish stucco work
It is so large that it can easily accommodate a Gothic cathedral such as Notre-Dame de Paris.
The woodcarvings, the zellij work and the stucco mouldings are of elaborate and highly impressive design; the wood used for carving is cedar from the middle Atlas Mountains, the marble is from Agadir and granite is brought from Tafraoute.
The prayer hall is built to a rectangular plan of length and width with three naves, which are perpendicular to the qibla wall. The central nave of the hall is and larger than the side naves, which are high. The central hall is undulating with a succession of numerous domes from which glass chandeliers, imported from Murano, are hung.
thumb|left|CorridorOn either side of the hall, there are mezzanine floors with carved dark wood furnishings, which are reserved for women. The doors are electrically operated. A triptych marble partition with open work and a central window flanked by two smaller sized windows is built on the wall of the façade. Such panels, built with multicolored arches, engraved with ornamented floral designs, appear like a geometrical framework when viewed from the outside. The gates are embellished with marble bars which have faux voussoirs (alternately smooth or sculpted).
The pillars of height are square in shape with engaged columns and cruciform joining a series of pillars. Geometrically shaped polychromatic zellji with carved plaster are noted with floral and geometric designs with epigraphy. Carved or painted marble or shaped wood are used for these elegant designs, which highlight Islamic art forms.
The roof is retractable, illuminating the hall with daytime sunlight and allowing worshippers to pray under the stars on clear nights. It has a laser beam fitted at the top, which is electronically operated in the evening. It is oriented towards Mecca and has a range of . The minaret is said to enhance the visual alignment of the boulevard.
It is square in shape, thrusting skyward. The base-to-top width ratio of 1 to 8 (between the basement and the summit) has a marble covering on the exterior with austere decoration. The faces of the facade have carved ornamentation with different materials. There are stitches of roudani tracetine on a 100,000 MP surface. This decorative material (with chrome and green as dominant colours) is a substitute for the use of bricks, the material used in many other notable minarets, and has given the mosque an extraordinary elegance.
thumb|Close-up view of the minaret
Green tiles decorate the minaret for one third of the height from the top, and then change colour to deep green or turquoise blue; it is said that in the Hassan II minaret, the designer had used his sea-foam green and blue to celebrate the life of a king.
The concrete used for the minaret was a special high-grade type, which could perform well under severe conditions of a combined action of strong wind and seismicity. This was achieved by the Science Department of the Bouygues Group, the contractors for the project, who developed an extra-strength concrete four times stronger than ordinary concrete. Called (highly resistant concrete), it offers a resistance to compression value of 1200 bars per sqcm (claimed to be a world record) and has a very quick setting time. This involved use of moly-grade stainless steel combined with high-grade concrete to make the structure resistant to chloride attack, a process that evolved during 3 years of research. This is expected to enhance the building's life by 100 years.