Abraj Al Bait or Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel

Abraj Al-Bait Tower (ابراج البيت) or Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers, also known as the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, is a government-owned megatall building complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that strives to modernize the city in catering to its pilgrims. The central hotel building has the world's largest clock face and is the third tallest building and fourth tallest freestanding structure in the world. The building complex is metres away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Masjid al-Haram. The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company.

The tallest tower in the complex stands as the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, with a height of 601 metres (1,972 feet). Currently it is the fourth tallest freestanding structure in the world, surpassing Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, but still is behind the Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, China, the Tokyo Sky Tree in Tokyo, Japan and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Different Buildings:

Tower             Height                              Floors     Completion

Hotel Tower    601 metres (1,972 feet)    120         2012
Hajar              260 metres (850 feet)         48         2011
ZamZam         260 metres (850 feet)         48         2008
Safa                240 metres (790 feet)         42         2007

The building is topped by a four-faced clock, visible from 25 kilometres (16 miles) away. The clock is the highest in the world at over 400 metres (1,300 ft) above the ground. The clock faces are the largest clock faces in the world, surpassing the Cevahir Mall clock in Istanbul.

Each of the clock's four faces measure 46 m (151 ft) in diameter and are illuminated by 2 million LED lights, with four oriented edges, just above the clock alongside huge Arabic script reading: “God is the Greatest” on the north and south faces and on the west and east the Quran. Four golden domes on pillars on all the corners are also present. Another 21,000 white and green coloured lights, the same as the Saudi Flag, fitted at the top of the clock, flash to signal Islam's five-times daily prayers, and are visible as far as 30 km (19 mi) away. On special occasions such as new year, 16 bands of vertical lights shoot some 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) up into the sky. The clock's four faces are covered with 98 million pieces of glass mosaics. The Saudi coat of arms is displayed at the centre of each clock behind the dials. The minute hand is 22 m (72 ft) long, while the hour hand is 17 m (56 ft) long.