In the Mosque of Records

The candelabra made of 600,000 Swarovski crystal tiles, costing six million euros and weighing two tonnes, hanging from the dome with a diameter of 55 metres, is the most precious of the many artistic jewels of the Great Mosque, along with the carpet woven by six hundred Iranian women in the male-only prayer hall, which is also open to women. Its minarets, five like the pillars of the Islamic religion, made of sandstone, the tallest of which reaches a height of 91 metres, the gleaming Carrara marble flooring, the arches borrowed from Iraqi and Syrian buildings, the mosaics recalling Byzantine, Greek, Egyptian, Moroccan and Andalusian styles give this structure a sober and elegant magnificence. Credit is also due to its ever-blooming gardens, the colourful inlaid stained-glass windows, the twenty-thousand-volume library and the open-air space known as the Garden of Knowledge where, over a good cardamom coffee, the qahwa, one can discuss with imams of all monotheistic faiths. In the room reserved for women and children, during the five daily prayer times, one is captivated by the beauty and musicality of their voices.