The Great Mughal Mosque, commissioned by Emperor Aurangzeb in 1671 and completed in just over two years. For 313 years the largest mosque in the world; today it still holds 100,000 worshippers. The red sandstone and marble facade is one of the great pieces of Mughal architecture. Stands beside Lahore Fort at the north-west corner of the Old City — the pair are the defining image of historical Lahore.
Badshahi Mosque
Aurangzeb's monumental 1673 Mughal mosque
A story
Aurangzeb financed the mosque from the spoils of his Deccan campaign and ordered the construction completed inside 26 months. When the British took Lahore in 1849 they used the courtyard as a barracks; British troops drilling on the marble cracked the surfaces in ways still visible today.