Riyadh: The General Authority for the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques in Saudi Arabia has revealed that the reason behind the cold floors of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, even as summer temperatures rise to about 50 degrees Celsius, is due to the type of marble used in the floors.
The authority said in a statement, on Tuesday, that the marble used in the floors is a special type that is imported, especially from the Greek island of Thassos. It is characterized by the fact that it reflects light and heat.
The characteristics of this marble make it a suitable choice for the spaces of the Two Holy Mosques and the millions of pilgrims, visitors and Umrah performers that receive it every year, as it is characterized by its extreme coldness, despite the extreme heat that may reach 50 degrees Celsius in the summer.
The undersecretary of the President of the Two Holy Mosques for Technical, Operational and Maintenance Affairs, Fares Al-Saadi, explained that this type of marble works to reflect light and heat, and it is rare, and the thickness of the marble used reaches five centimetres.
This type is distinguished from others by the fact that it absorbs moisture through tiny pores during the night, and during the day it excretes what it absorbed at night, and this is what makes it always cold despite high temperatures.
It is noteworthy that this marble has been extracted from the island of Thassos in the Aegean Sea since ancient times, and the Greeks were among the first peoples to discover marble and develop its uses throughout the ages.
Saudi Arabia imports Thassos marble in the form of huge rock pieces, and they are processed in private Saudi factories under the supervision of qualified technical cadres to cut the rocks into slabs of specific sizes and with special standards.
