Approval issued for Mataf Expansion Building in Grand Mosque to be named as Saudi portico

The Grand Mosque's Mataf Expansion Building Project will now be known as the Saudi Portico, according to a statement made on Sunday by the Head of the Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

According to Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, the Abbasid portico is surrounded by a considerably bigger space in the Saudi portico than the Grand Mosque has ever seen.

The ground level, the first floor, the first floor mezzanine and the roof make up its four storeys. The Saudi portico and the mataf can hold a maximum of 287,000 worshippers and 107,000 tawaf performers every hour.

The head of the presidency stated that the Saudi portico consists of the Holy Kaaba's surrounding courtyard as well as the extension project of the mataf (circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba), which is located behind the Abbasid portico.

In order to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims, King Abdul Aziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, ordered the Grand Mosque's extension. As a result, the expansion construction started in 1955, under King Saud.