The most important in the Muslim West, the mosque that we know today is the result of successive extensions financed by Umayyad amirs and caliphs to consolidate their power and create capacity for a growing population. The space inside the majestic prayer room (totalling 12,000m2) is made possible through the repeated use of an ingenious system of double arches on columns organised into naves that run perpendicular to the qibla wall, creating the effect of a forest of palm trees. The room also has a maqsura (sanctuary for imam) and a mihrab (prayer niche), both sumptuously decorated.