The Citadel Mosque, which is located in Hotat Bani Tamim in the Riyadh region, and its founding dates back to the year 1250 AH, stands out as one of the mosques of the second phase of Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s project for the development of historical mosques. of sustainability, and integrates development effects with a range of heritage and historical characteristics.
The mosque, which was called the Citadel in relation to the castle of Imam Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud, in which the mosque was located during that period, derives its importance from its intrinsic value that will be preserved by the project. After the completion of the development, its area will reach 625.78 square meters, while the number of worshipers will remain at 180.
The castle mosque was built in the Najdi style, which uses clay as a main component. The mud molding technique, in which a mixture of clay and straw is placed in wooden molds to form bricks, is economically efficient compared to the materials used in other styles, to include properties such as resistance to heat transfer, preservation of Moderate the temperature of the internal spaces of the building.
The Citadel Mosque comes as part of Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s project to develop historical mosques in its second phase, which included 30 mosques in all 13 regions of the Kingdom, six mosques in the Riyadh region, five mosques in the Makkah Al-Mukarramah region, five mosques in the Medina region, and three Mosques in the Asir region, two mosques in the eastern region, the same in each of Al-Jawf and Jizan, and one mosque in each of the northern borders, Tabuk, Al-Baha, Najran, Hail, and Al-Qassim.
The Prince Mohammed bin Salman project for the development of historical mosques works to achieve a balance between ancient and modern construction standards in a way that gives the components of mosques an appropriate degree of sustainability, and integrates the effects of development with a set of heritage and historical characteristics, while the process of developing them is being carried out by Saudi companies specialized in heritage buildings and with experience. In its field, with the importance of involving Saudi engineers to ensure the preservation of the authentic urban identity of each mosque since its establishment.
It is noteworthy that the launch of the second phase of the Historic Mosques Development Project came after the completion of the first phase, which included the rehabilitation and restoration of 30 historical mosques in 10 regions.
The project stems from 4 strategic objectives, summarized by rehabilitating historical mosques for worship and prayer, restoring the urban authenticity of historical mosques, highlighting the civilizational dimension of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, strengthening the religious and cultural status of historical mosques, and contributing to highlighting the cultural and civilizational dimension of the Kingdom that Vision 2030 focuses on by preserving the characteristics Authentic urbanism and its use in developing the design of modern mosques.
Okaz (Riyadh)