Oman Part 3 - Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

I am happy to be back to blogging after entirely too long a break.  I have a lot of pictures to catch up on from various travels and events!

As I go through pictures and reflect on what I'm learning, I've also realized I let myself become much too reliant on my camera's automatic functions.  In some ways, I think it's a testament to the quality of my entry-level DSLR that even on fully automatic settings, it takes some very pretty pictures and lets the novice photographer focus on things like framing and composition before tackling manual adjustments to shutter speed, aperture, and the like.  At the same time, one of the reasons I invested in a DSLR in the first place was to learn more about and have more control over these exact qualities, so I'm determined to work more at understanding and making full use of the camera's manual capabilities.

This set of pictures highlights the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, which is the third largest mosque in the world, and truly impressive.  The powers-that-be clearly recognize the site's potential as a tourist attraction and have left it open to visitors most mornings until 11:00 am, as long as you are appropriately dressed -- long sleeves, pants or a long skirt, and head coverings for the ladies.

[A view in the gardens surrounding the mosque complex.]

[Outside the main mosque are a series of beautiful plazas, hallways, and ablution chambers, where worshippers can wash their feet.  These areas were filled with small, beautiful details, including these intricate wooden ceilings.]

[A hallway outside the main mosque.]

[Gleaming marble plaza as you approach one side of the mosque.]

[Deep sea blue colored stained glass windows decorate the side of the main mosque, and on a sunny cloudless day mimic the sky exactly.]

[An archway marking part of the main entrance, where visitors are asked to remove their shoes before walking inside.]

[The inside of the great dome, with a massive chandelier hanging inside.  I wish I could go back as a more skilled photographer and find a way to capture the scale here - it was incredible.]

[One small section of the mosque floor, which boasts the largest contiguous Persian rug in the world.]

The mosque, needless to say, was breathtaking.  I think I took nearly 100 photos there in all, just snapping away at every interesting corner.  In addition to the photos here of the mosque and grounds themselves, I also took quite a few photos of the beautiful tiles that line the hallways and plazas surrounding the main worship site.  I plan hope to find the time to frame a series of the tile photos, since they are such a fun memory of the trip.  If I ever get to that and can find enough interesting ones, I may do a separate post just of the tiles.  :)