As we all know, Mecca city is famous for holy activities especially Hajj and Umrah. It is a holy city, where Kaba is situated, in Saudi Arabia. The city’s full name is Makah al-Mukarramah, but shortened to Mecca only. It is the capital of Mecca province, in the region of Hejaz. It constitutes 70 kilo meters area from Jeddah, on the red sea, situated above sea level, in a narrow valley of 277 meter or 909 feet. In the list of most populated area of Saudi Arabia, after Jeddah and Riyadh, Mecca is the 3rd. Its population exceeds 2.4 million (population in 2022 was 2.4M).
Probably less than 50 percent of citizens are local Saudi and remaining more than 50 percent citizens are foreign Muslims who came from different other countries. Every year triple of this native population, Muslims from other countries visit this place for hajj and Umrah purposes. That’s why Mecca falls under the top ten most visited cities’ in the world. You can also book Umrah packages to visit this holiest place and explore Mecca.
Mecca is the birth place of our beloved prophet Muhammad PBUH. The Kaba in the Mecca was built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail. There’s a special black stone, called “Hijr-e-Aswad”, in the Kaba. Whole year millions of Muslims visit this place to see Kaba and Hijr-e-Aswad.
Now Saudi government has opened its doors to all foreign visitors, irrespective of religion. Saudi Arabia is yet an unexplored place to the world, maybe unknown. Beyond pilgrimage, there are much more places to explore in Mecca. Let’s have a look of it.
Unique and historical mosques
There’s a collection of historical mosques in Mecca. All these mosques are unique in pattern and hold significance in the history.
- Masjid al Haram: the largest mosque in the world holding black stone, , Zamzam well, Muqam e Ibrahimi, mounts of Safah and Marwa
- Masjid al Jinn: Prophet Muhammad PBUH used to recite Quran to jinn’s in the old time at this place
- Masjid Aisha “umm-ul-Momineen” : also known as Masjid Al Taneem, built in the name of Prophet’s beloved wife Ayesha SAW
You can visit this place in the Ramadan as it is the best time to visit this Holy place. You can buy Ramadan Umrah packages and can experience the calmness of these mosques.
The Clock towers
The clock tower is 300 meters away from the world’s largest mosque, Al Haram. It is a government under property, consisting of seven skyscraping hotels of Mecca. This tower is a part of an endowment project, whose aim is to make the Mecca city looks modern and luxurious. Mecca clock royal tower is the tallest building and free stand structure.
Clock tower also contains the clock tower museum. It contains four top floors of the tower building. The clock tower is the world’s most expensive building having worth of 15 billion US dollar. If you visit this place with Umrah packages in 2025, you are going to have a closest view of this clock tower while performing Umrah.
Mount ArafatMount Arafat is also known as Jabal-e-Arafat or Jabal Ar-Rehman holds a very prominent position in the Islamic History. On this Mount, our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) delivered his Final Sermon. Muslims believe that Adam and Eve were reunited on this Mount after falling from Heaven.
This Mount is very important during Hajj of Muslims, as the name of day of 9th of the Islamic Month Dhul Al-Hijjah, known as Arafat Day. It is the day when Pilgrims of Hajj leave for Arafat from Mina.
It is a hiking area in Ta’if valley. Visitors can hike through the mountain of Arafat, and can explore this historical area via guided tour.
Mecca Museum
Place is also famous as Makah regional museum. The museum is a treasure heritage, holding the history of Holy city Mecca. Museum shows a huge variety of artifacts, findings by archeologists, manuscripts and the evolutionary history of Mecca.
A section of this museum is specially designed for pilgrimage, showing the pilgrimage rituals, traditions and history of hajj and Umrah. It has different copies of Quran.
Mecca museum not only provides a true and fair view of Mecca history but also allows tourists to find out the history of Islam, Mecca traditions, culture and heritage.
Jabal Al-Noor:Jabal Al-Noor is also famous as Mountain of Light or Cave of Hira. It is the Cave where beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) received his first ‘Wahi’ from Allah Almighty through an angel Jibra’il. This Cave holds a very significance place in the heart of Muslims as from here the journey of ‘Wahi’ begins. The first ‘Wahi’ received at this Cave consists of five ayah of Surah Al-Alaq.You can visit this place in the holy month of Ramadan by booking Ramadan Umrah packages to experience the spirituality of Jabal al Noor.
Al-Muallaa Cemetery:The full name of Al-Muallaa Cemetery is Jannat Al-Muallaa Cemetery. It is the place, where majority of the relatives, of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are buried including their wife and grandfather. A place where every Muslim wants to bury is jannat ul mualla cemetery. People built domes over the graves of known personalities. But later on the Saudi Government demolishes the domes as they are prohibited in Islam. Now graves are without any domes or designs.
Here you will experience the facts of life that it is the end place where you have to come. Muslims visit this place to remember the death, as they have to return to Allah.
Abu Qubays
Abu Qubays, a mountain in Mecca, where the beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) breaks the moon into two pieces and then re-attached the moon as per the demand of disbelievers. According to Muslims, the sacred Black Stone (Hijr e Aswad) resided there and it was the place where first man stayed and buried.Holy city, Mecca is not only a place for pilgrimage but also tourist’s main attraction in Saudi Arabia. These places mentioned above are not just to visit for Muslims but for all tourists who are interested in knowing the history of Mecca and Islam.
