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Masjid al-Haram

is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca (Makkah), it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while performing daily prayers and is Islam's holiest place.The mosque is also known as the Grand Mosque.The current structure covers an area of 356,800 square metres (88.2 acres) including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to four million Muslim worshipers during the Hajj period, one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world.Islamic tradition holds that the Mosque was first built by the angels before the creation of mankind, when God ordained a place of worship on Earth to reflect the house in heaven called al-Baytu l-Ma mur "The Worship Place of Angels". From time to time, the Mosque was damaged by a storm (flood) and was rebuilt anew.According to Islamic belief it was rebuilt by Ibrahim, with the help of his son Ismail.They were ordered by God to build the mosque, and the Kaaba. The Black Stone (Hajar-ul-aswad) is situated on the lower side of the eastern corner of the Kaaba, believed to be the only remnant of the original structure made by Ibrahim.The Kaaba is the direction for all the Muslims to pray across the globe thus signifying unity among all.The Islamic teaching specifically mentions that nothing is miraculous about the Grand Mosque except for the oasis Zamzam which has purportedly never dried ever since it was revealed.

King Abdul Aziz Stadium

is a multi-purpose stadium in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.It is currently used mostly for football matches.The stadium holds 38,000 people and is the home stadium of Al-Wahda FC.In pre-modern Mecca the most common sports were impromptu wrestling and foot races.Football is the most popular sport in Mecca, the city hosting some of the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia such as, Al-Wahda FC (established in 1945).

Abraj Al Bait Towers

also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower is a complex topped out in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The building holds several world records in the construction world, including: the tallest hotel in the world, constructed with the tallest clock tower in the world and displaying the world's largest clock face, the world's largest building floor area, and will become the second tallest building in the world upon completion, surpassed only by Dubai's Burj Khalifa upon its opening in 2011.The building complex is meters away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Masjid al Haram.The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company.In addition, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers will have a four-story shopping mall and a parking garage capable of holding over a thousand vehicles.Residential towers will house permanent residents while two heliports and a conference center are to accommodate business travelers.In total up to 100,000 people could be housed inside the towers.The project will use clock faces for each side of the hotel tower.The highest residential floor will be at 450 metres (1,480 feet), just below the clocks.The clock faces will be 43 × 43 m (141 × 141 ft), the largest in the world.The roof of the clocks will be 530 metres (1,740 feet) above the ground, making them the world's most elevated architectural clocks.A 71 metres (233 feet) tall spire will be added on top of the clock giving it a total height of 601 metres (1,972 feet), which will make it the second tallest building in the world when completed, surpassing Taipei 101 in Taiwan.The tower's crescent began construction in June 2011.

Ajyad Fortress

was an Ottoman fort built in Mecca, in what is now Saudi Arabia, in the late 18th century.It was destroyed by the Saudi government in 2002 for commercial development sparking global outcry.In 1781 (or 1777 or 1780, according to some sources) the fortress was built in order to protect the Kaaba and Islamic shrines in Mecca from invaders.The fort covered some 23,000 m2 (250,000 sq ft) on Bulbul Mountain (a spur of Jebel Kuda) overlooking the Masjid al-Haram from the south.Ajyad Fortress was demolished and most of Bulbul Mountain levelled by the Saudi government in 2002 to make space for the $533 million construction project Abraj Al Bait Towers.The 11 high-rise towers will consist of apartments, a twin-tower five-star hotel, restaurants and a shopping centre all to be built by the Saudi Binladin Group.

Jabal Al Thur

This is the cave in which Prophet Muhammed hid in as he made Hijra to Yathrib (Medina) while being pursued by Meccans who were going to kill him.According to legend, the cave entrance was blocked by a spider which had cast a web to cover it.

Hudaibiyah

It is situated on the old road connecting old Jeddah to Makkah.It's currently known as al-Syumaisi.This is the place where the famous Hudaibiyah Treaty took place between the Muslims from Madinah led by Prophet Muhammed and the Quraish from Makkah.There is new masjid built next to the ruins of the old masjid.

Jabal al-Nour Mountain

meaning "The Mountain of Light", is a mountain near the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.It houses the Hira cave where Muhammad is said to have received his first revelation from God (Arabic Allah) through the angel Gabriel.Jabal an-Nour or the Mountain of Light has seen so called because the first "light" of Muhammad's message, Islam, was here.The Islamic prophet received his first revelation in the Hira cave in this mountain.Prophet Muhammad used to climb it a lot before getting his first revelation and loved to stay in the cave for long.

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