A mammoth new hotel is rising in Saudi Arabias holy city Mecca.
Atop its central tower will be one of the world’s largest domes.
Surrounding this dome will be five helipads.
The interiors, as expected, will be lavishly decorated.
A computer-generated 3D model of the under-construction hotel Abraj Kudai.
This tower also boasts of having the world’s largest clock face.
At night, the glowing clock face is visible from 30 km away.
The construction of Abraj Al Bait caused quite a controversy.
The Ajyad Fortress was built in 1780 under Ottoman rule for protect the Kaaba from bandits and invaders.
The Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel.
Notice how it dwarfs the Great Mosque and the black Kabba, which itself is a gigantic structure.
Where the house of Islams first caliph, Abu Bakr, once stood now stands a Hilton hotel.
The house where Muhammad was born now lies in ruins.
The list of heritage crimesgoes on.
Thousands of tents housing Muslim pilgrims fill the landscape in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca.
Although their accommodation is temporary, the tents are permanent.
“They are now living in shantytowns on the edge of the city without proper sanitation.
It will be the tallest building in the world outranking the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
“It is the end of Mecca,” says Alawi.
“And for what?
And people praying in the new mosque extension will not even be able to see the Kaaba.”
This is how the northern side of the Grand Mosque will look like.
The black Kabba is a tiny speck on the bottom right.
The sky behind the Great Mosque is bristling with cranes heralding one tower hotel after another.
Photo credit:Fadhlur Rahman/Flickr
The Jabal Omar development, also under construction.
The Abraj Kudai hotel, the largest hotel in the world, as it will appear when completed.
The Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel when still under construction.
Photo credit:neo saed/Flickr
