Casablanca, Morocco.
Mosque stats:
- Tallest Minaret tower in the world and according to the Lonely Planet it's the third largest religious monument in the world
- 25 platinum doors, 5 of them electric
- Sliding roof
- Heated floors during the winter
- Laser lights at night pointing towards Mecca (thus dubbed by Shawn as the Disco mosque)
- Can hold 25000 people (I've seen the inside - it can swallow Notre Dame whole)
- Various building material like marble from Agadir, granite from Tafraoute, and even chandeliers made with Murano glass from Italy
- Comissioned by Moroccan king Hassan the II but built by a French architect named Michel Pinseau
Total cost? An estimated US$800 million which is surprisingly mostly from public donations.
Now, if only public donations for Gaudi's Sagrada Familia can catch up...