Interesting Place

So i was born in Banda Aceh and know i want to tell you about Aceh symbol. It is Baiturrahman mosque. It is located in the center of Banda Aceh city, Aceh Province, Indonesia. Baiturrahman Mosque, a beautiful if not imposing building in central Banda Aceh, has come to symbolize Aceh's greatness, its people's strong devotion to Islam.This Banda Aceh's landmark Mosque has survived the devastating 2004 tsunami.

 The design of the Mosque combines influences of European (Dutch) colonial and Moghul Indian Islamic Architecture, it has no influence of Acehnese archtecture. The black domes are uniquely constructed from hard wood shingles combined as tiles. The marmer of the interior is from China and the windows from Belgium. The building stones are from the Netherlands. Today the mosque is the famous landmark of Banda Aceh and has become the symbol of the city and also represents the cultural uniqueness of the Acehnese people.

For residents, the 32-pillar mosque, measuring more than 1,500 square meters, is the pride of the people of Aceh. The building itself can sit 5,000 people, and many more thousands can fit into the huge compound surrounding the building for Idul Adha prayers. Eight giant minarets make the mosque visible from a distance and from the air.

A 35-meter tall tower stands close to the main gate. It is slightly tilted to the right and cracks have appeared in parts of the structure, testimony to the power of the earthquake prior to the tsunami. The pond in front of the mosque is bare of the flower pots that used to line it. Residents said the pond was filled with bodies when the water from the tsunamis receded.

An icon and symbol of hope, Baiturrahman has a controversial past. Historians are still debating whether the mosque was built in 1612 during the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda, or earlier in 1292 by Sultan Alaidin Mahmudsyah. Records say that the mosque was razed to the ground in 1873 when the town was raided by Dutch forces in their attempt to colonize the sultanate. Aceh was the last territory of what is now Indonesia to be conquered by the Dutch East Indies.

At the end i want to tell you why i choose this place for my interesting place because i've been there when i was in aceh and when you come in too the mosque, you can feel the mosque is very quiet, cool, and make our hearts feel calm. So if you go to Aceh you must visit Baiturrahman mosque.