Abraj Al Bait Saudi Arabia

Legendary

The world's largest clock face and the 3rd tallest building in the world.

Photo by Samira Akil Zaman

The clock faces on Abraj Al Bait are so large that people can read them from 25 kilometers away. Each face stretches 43 meters across, making them the biggest clock faces on earth. The tower they sit on rises 601 meters above Mecca, directly next to the Masjid al-Haram, the holiest mosque in Islam.

The complex cost $15 billion to build, making it one of the most expensive construction projects in history. It opened in 2012, built by the Saudi Binladin Group on the site of a 19th-century Ottoman fortress that was demolished to make way for it. That demolition remains controversial among historians and preservationists.

The main clock tower climbs 120 floors and holds a hotel, a shopping mall, and a prayer room that can accommodate 10,000 people. Six additional towers surround it, all part of the same complex designed to house pilgrims visiting the mosque below.

At peak Hajj season, more than two million Muslims gather in the surrounding area, making it one of the largest human gatherings on earth.

Non-Muslim visitors cannot enter Mecca, so Abraj Al Bait is accessible only to Muslim travelers. If you're making the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimage, the complex sits steps from the Kaaba itself. From the upper floors, the view of the Grand Mosque and the sea of pilgrims below is unlike anything else in the world.