Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

The mosque is built on a site occupying 416,000 m2 (4,480,000 sq. ft.) and the complex extends to cover an area of 40,000 m2 (430,000 sq. ft.), the newly built Grand Mosque was inaugurated by Sultan of Oman on May 4, 2001. Five minarets have been built around the premises of the mosque the main minaret (90 meters, 300 ft.) in height. The prayer hall is square in shape and 74.4 by 74.4 meters (244 by 244 feet) has a central dome rising to a height of 50 meters (160 ft.) above the floor, the dome is embellished spectacularly from the inside and it is a major tourist attraction in itself, the main Musalla (Prayer Room) can hold over 6500 worshippers. The major design of the interior is the prayer carpet which covers the floor of the prayer hall, it contains, 1,700,000,000 knots, weighs 21 tons and took four years to produce, and brings together the classical Persian Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan design traditions 28 colors in varying shades were used.

Nizwa Souq

From the Grand Mosque, we'll drive towards Nizwa, Nizwa was the capital of Oman during the Al Yaruba Dynasty, we'll visit the famous Nizwa Souq (Market), A wide variety of vendors offer their goods in the streets of the souk, where you can find, vegetables, pottery, jewelry, handicrafts Omani sweets (Halwa), spice, dates, and souvenirs which are sold in authentic old market halls that few places can boast, especially interesting is the Friday cattle market when the locals come to sell their, goats, cattle, sheep and chickens in a circus style open market place.