JEDDAH – Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah province, adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and chairman of the Tourism Development Council in the region, is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the renovation of eight historic mosques in Jeddah governorate on Sunday night, the Saudi Press Agency reported. These include Al-Mi'mar, Al-Hanafi, Othman, Al-Khidhir, Abu Inabah, Al-Luluah, Zawiyat Abu Saifain and Al-Basha historic mosques. The renovation will be carried out according to a certain schedule so that the mosques are open for worshippers. The function for laying the foundation stone will be held in the presence of Prince Sultan Bin Salman, president of the Saudi commission for tourism and national heritage, founder and chairman of the Trustees Council of the Heritage Foundation; Prince Mishal Bin Majid, governor of Jeddah and a number of officials and businessmen, who gave donations to build and renovate these historic mosques. The SCTH and Heritage Foundation, aside from several other partners including the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, are leading great efforts to renovate the historic mosques Kingdomwide. There are 800 enlisted historic mosques. About 21 historic mosques in Riyadh, Asir, the Eastern Province, Madinah, Jeddah and Yanbu have been renovated. These include Tabbab Mosque in Asir, Joufa Mosque in Al-Ahsa and Al-Shafei Mosque in Jeddah which was inaugurated last year. Al-Shafei Mosque was renovated at the expense of the late King Abdullah.
