The Great Hall
Thirty-seven metres high and wide, under a crystal chandelier of about ten tonnes.
EditQ — CC0 · Matti Blume — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Matti Blume — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Matti Blume — CC BY-SA 4.0
A working presidential palace opened to visitors in 2019 — not a museum in an old palace but a functioning seat of government where heads of state are received, and which then opens its doors to the public. The building is white marble under an enormous central dome, in a contemporary Arab-Islamic manner: arches, geometric ornament and calligraphy executed to a very high standard, and it is that precision rather than the scale that holds the attention. The Great Hall beneath the dome is the image everyone knows: a white and gold space thirty-seven metres high beneath a dome thirty-seven metres across, with a crystal chandelier at its centre weighing about ten tonnes. The geometry of the dome reads as perfectly symmetrical from any angle you look. The House of Knowledge displays manuscripts and scientific and astronomical instruments from Arab and Islamic heritage, including rare copies, and it is the most substantial part of the palace for anyone interested in content rather than architecture. The cabinet room and the presidential reception hall are open to visitors, showing the table where meetings are actually held. In the evening a light show is projected onto the façade telling the story of the Emirates, usually included in the ticket. An hour and a half, and booking ahead saves queueing.
Thirty-seven metres high and wide, under a crystal chandelier of about ten tonnes.
Manuscripts and astronomical instruments from Arab and Islamic heritage — the richest part.
The table where government actually meets, open to visitors.
Al Ras Al Akhdar, Abu Dhabi
No, and this confuses many people. It was built recently, opened to visitors in 2019, and is a working presidential seat. For history in Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Hosn is the place — an eighteenth-century building and the oldest structure in the city.
Yes, the two make a comfortable single day. The usual order is the mosque in the morning when it is quieter, then Qasr Al Watan in the late afternoon so you catch the projection on its façade after dark.
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