Mecca Rising - A Holy City in Transition

[Hyde]

Below is a collection of new never-before-seen images from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Much of the historic city is currently being demolished. Each day, several buildings undergo controlled-demolition with explosives that leave dust clouds which seem to symbolize the past giving way to the future. Over the rubble, some of the tallest buildings on the planet are rising to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and an ever growing number of pilgrims from the world's fastest growing religion who make their spiritual journeys (Umrah and Hajj) to Mecca from every part of the world. Welcome to a holy city in transition--Mecca, Saudi Arabia.


View from the roof of Abraj Al Bait--the largest hotel development in history with 15.6 Million sq. ft. of floor space)
Source:Abraj Al Bait Towers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The tallest tower in Abraj Al Bait, still under construction, is expected to reach a height of 1,952ft.

This city of 1.7 million residents received around 15 million visitors in 2007 and that number is projected to grow 10% each year. Source:Race to the Holy City - Real Estate - ArabianBusiness.com

 

[Hyde]

 

[Hyde]

 

[Hyde]

 

[Hyde]

 

[Hyde]

The Masjid Al Haram (Grand Mosque) at 1:46 AM. The Tawaf (circumambulation of the Kaabah) takes place 24/7. This is one of the few buildings on Earth that has been open to the public for literally hundreds of years without interruption.

 

[Hyde]

Abraj Al Bait-the world's largest hotel development-will soon be home the the second tallest building on Earth.

Old Mecca

New Mecca

A cat relaxes on the hood of a new Toyota Camry.

Construction to expand the Grand Mosque which can accommodate over 4 million worshipers

Kaaba

Mecca Hilton. Below the 30-storey Hilton, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and KFC are popular restaurants within meters of the Grand Mosque.

 

[Hyde]

Please do not delete this thread - I created this thread for a purpose

I was having arguments about Monorail vs Metro in Makkah with Mr Justin Joseph in the following thread

http://www.defence.pk/forums/members-club/21558-china-build-mecca-monorail.html

So i want to use these images for reference purposes

Hope you understand - Thanks

 

[Forrest Griffin]

Inside Kaaba

You can see former President Musharraf all the way in the back.

 

[Forrest Griffin]

 

[RiazHaq]

I think this is really sad to see so much history being destroyed in Mecca.

It's in sharp contrast to the Europeans' preservation and restoration efforts in old historic cities of Europe.

 

[Dr.Evil]

My personal opinion is that In a place where materialistic society and Money should not matter has been made very Materialistic.

Its all Bling Bling.

Muslims will be in better position to state their feeling of this.

 

[Al-zakir]

Zaki bhai
Thanks a lot for the pictures. Jazakallah Khair.