Amazing footage of the ongoing construction at Mecca’s Grand Mosque surfaced on Facebook, showing the large-scale reconstructive efforts at the holy site in Saudi Arabia.
The video, shot from what looks like a crane, shows worshippers circling the Kaaba with construction efforts ongoing at the mataf expansion not far away.
Footage of the mataf expansion project in Mecca shows the project’s dramatic scale.
The amateur footage shows the scale of the project and surrounding buildings. The Mecca Clocktower, or Abraj Al Bait, is the world’s second tallest building behind only the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Saudi officials deny that the construction is anything but a much-needed upgrade to a holy site that accommodates millions of Islamic tourists and pilgrims each year, but some in Western media outlets, such as the UK-based Telegraph, have been critical of the construction.
Nevertheless, the Saudi Gazette notes that the historic Old Mosque will ‘not be touched,’ and noted that it is the first expansion to the mataf in 60 years.
Construction crews work on the Grand Mosque reconstruction project in footage that surfaced on Facebook.
Saudi Arabia’s Bin Laden Group is heading up the construction efforts at the Grand Mosque.
According to an Arab News report, Dr. Muhammad Al-Khuzaim, deputy president of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques’ Affairs, said the “old Haram area will be left unchanged, although slight changes will be made to keep it at the same level of the mataf,” adding that it “will also be connected with the ground floor and the courtyards.”
An earlier video on YouTube shows an artist’s interpretation of the construction in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
