After a breakfast of pistachio yogurt and a rather amazing pastry, we met up with the rest of our group to head to one of the largest mosques in the world. The minute we walked out of the hotel, we were followed by a rainbow that took us all the way into the mosque.

It felt to all of us like a God thing and a blessing upon our safe and happy trip. It felt like this especially to me, who had been awake in the night because of the time change, and had been praying for our trip. The rainbow felt like a smile of approval, love, and protection as we commenced this journey together.

The enormous Hasssan II Mosque was built at great expense (around $800,000,000) to accommodate 105,000 worshippers, as well as more in the large plaza beyond. This is especially daunting when you consider that each one of that crowd must ritually first wash in the basement first, and remove their shoes (and get them back again). Believers pray on the floor which can be heated when necessary, and the immense roof is retractible to be open to the sky for sea breezes during the warmer months. Just the functionality of opening that heavy and ornate roof is astonishing, and the engineer in me geeked out over it.

It is a showcase of the finest Moroccan craftsmanship, with intricate hand-carved stone and wood, inlayed tile, and gilded cedar ceilings. It took six years to build and was completed in 1993. A team of more than 6,000 master craftspeople did everything by hand, reportedly with no machines (more astonishment). The 25 carved titanium doors are amazing, each one is 10 tons, patterned somehow by hand, and opens electronically. The absolution fountains in the basement are carved into lotus shapes out of local marble.

The mosque’s placement next to the Atlantic was inspired by a verse in the Quran that stated that “God’s throne was built on the water.”

The women are hidden on mezzanine level behind wooden screens.

Check out in my photos below this incredible space and its artisanship. Also, see our entire group assembled for our first photo together.