His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister has inaugurated the second phase of Prince Mohammed bin Salman's project to develop historical mosques, which aims to rehabilitate and restore 130 historical mosques in various regions of the Kingdom. The second phase of the historical mosques development project includes 30 historical mosques distributed over the 13 regions of the Kingdom, 6 mosques in Riyadh region, 5 mosques in Makkah region, 4 mosques in Madinah region, 3 mosques in Asir region and 2 mosques in Eastern region and the same in each of Al-Jawf and Jazan, and one mosque in each of the Northern Borders, Tabuk, Baha, Najran, Hail and Qassim. Mosques were chosen according to their historical and heritage importance, whether they are related to the Prophet's biography, the Islamic caliphate, or the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. HRH Crown Prince directed the implementation of the second phase of mosques development by Saudi companies specialized in heritage buildings with expertise in their field, with the importance of involving Saudi engineers to ensure the preservation of the original urban identity of each mosque since its establishment. Inauguration of the second phase of the historical mosques development project by HRH Crown Prince comes after the completion of the first phase that was launched at the beginning of the project in 2018, which included the rehabilitation and restoration of 30 historical mosques in the Kingdom's 10 regions at a cost of nearly 50 million riyals and a capacity for worshipers of about 4,400 worshipers. The oldest historical mosque within the first phase dates back to 1432 Hijri (2011). Prince Mohammed bin Salman's project for the development of historical mosques is based on 4 strategic goals, which are summarized in rehabilitating historical mosques for worship and prayer, restoring the urban authenticity of historical mosques, highlighting the cultural dimension of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, enhancing the religious and cultural status of historical mosques, and contributing to highlighting the cultural and civilizational dimension of the Kingdom to be based on Vision 2030 by preserving the original urban characteristics and benefiting from them in developing the design of modern mosques.
