Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah has a great place in the hearts of Muslims, due to its outstanding religious and historical heritage, as it is the city of the Messenger, peace be upon him. Due to the Islamic, cultural, historical, and social status of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah and its Islamic and historical places and landmarks, which were linked to the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, Al-Madinah has received care, attention, development and construction throughout history. The Prophet's Holy Mosque, the second of the Two Holy Mosques, to which millions of Muslims flock throughout the year from around the globe, had the priority in the development, construction and expansions that took place according to the appropriate architectural designs. The Prophet's Holy Mosque, which was built by the Messenger in the first year of Hijrah, after he came to Al-Madinah migrating from Makkah, with a length of 30 meters and a width of 35 meters, has witnessed about 10 consecutive expansions, the largest of which took place during the era of the Saudi state. Expansions of the Prophet's Holy Mosque continued in different periods of time from successive Islamic countries. The Prophet's Holy Mosque has also received care and attention since the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the late founder King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud and his sons after him who prepared all the capabilities and infrastructure and launched a number of projects, expanded the Mosque's area and provided various necessary services to serve the Prophet's Holy Mosque and its worshipers and visitors. During the late King Abdulaziz's reign, several repairs were made to the Prophet's Holy Mosque. In 1365 AH, pillars and walls of the Mosque's north side were cracking noticeably, therefore the late King Abdulaziz issued an order, after studying the project, to conduct construction works and expand the Mosque. In 1370 AH, the demolition of the buildings adjacent to the Prophet's Holy Mosque began. In 1375 AH, construction works and expansion during the reign of King Saud bin Abdulaziz were completed, as the construction was done using reinforced concrete, resulting in adding 6033 square meters to Mosque's squares. During the reign of King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and with the increasing number of people coming to the Prophet's Holy Mosque, especially during the Hajj season, expanding the Prophet's Holy Mosque became necessary in order to accommodate these increasing numbers. King Faisal issued his order to expand the Prophet's Mosque, as the expansion was done in the western side of the Mosque only by adding 35,000 square meters to the Mosque's squares. During the reign of King Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Souq Al-Qmashah burnt down in 1397 AH, which was located on the southwestern side of the Prophet's Holy Mosque. The area of the Souq was leveled and the owners of houses and properties were compensated. This area, which was 43,000 square meters, a spacious, shaded square, was added to the squares of the Prophet's Mosque and a part of it was designated as parking spaces. This expansion did not include the Mosque itself. During the reign of King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, he ordered to provide studies for a major expansion of the Prophet's Holy Mosque. In 1405 AH, the foundation stone for the expansion project of the Prophet's Holy Mosque was laid. The expansion project accommodated more than 257,000 worshipers within a total area of 165,500 square meters after completing it. The expansion included building a basement to accommodate air conditioners, refrigerators, and other services. It also included surrounding the Prophet's Holy Mosque with courtyards of 23,000 square meters, the floor of which is covered with marble and granite, according to geometric shapes in various beautiful Islamic models. 135,000 square meters of these courtyards have been allocated for prayer, to accommodate 250,000 worshipers 400,000 worshipers in the event that the entire area of the squares surrounding the Mosque is used. This makes the capacity of the entire Mosque and its surrounding courtyards more than 650,000 worshipers, reaching one million worshipers at peak times. During the reign of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud the largest expansion project of the Prophet's Holy Mosque throughout history was launched, in addition to the project of convertible umbrellas at the Prophet's Holy Mosque, one of the mega projects. The capacity of the Prophet's Holy Mosque will reach two million worshipers by the end of the project. The directive came to manufacture and install the umbrellas aligning the pillars of the squares of the Prophet's Holy Mosque, which number up to 250 umbrellas. These umbrellas cover an area of 143,000 square meters of the squares surrounding the mosque's four corners, where more than 800 worshipers can pray under one of these umbrellas. As part of the umbrellas project, 436 misting fans have been installed on 250 umbrellas covering the various squares of the Prophet's Holy Mosque, which have an area of about 175,500 square meters and accommodate approximately 251,000 worshipers. The care and attention for the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors continue in this prosperous era under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques affirms in every forum the importance and keenness to continue working on major expansion projects at the Two Holy Mosques to serve Islam and Muslims in addition to providing all means to serve pilgrims, Umrah performers and visitors using an integrated system of work and direct coordination between the various relevant entities. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud approved starting implementing development projects and operational and technical modernization of the sound system, light current systems and electromechanical systems at the Prophet's Holy Mosque and its courtyards according to the latest technologies available globally. The King also approved developing sound, air conditioning and automatic control systems in the projects of the Prophet's Holy Mosque, in addition to developing parking lots and service buildings. The Prophet's Holy Mosque is also a prominent part of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 presented by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, which aims to build the Two Holy Mosques and improve all services and overcome all difficulties, so that pilgrims, Umrah performers and visitors find all the means to help them perform their rituals. Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah has many religious and historical places, which are an indication of the greatness of this town and its connection to the biography and life of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. One of those places is Quba Mosque, which is in southwest of Al-Madinah. The expansions of Quba Mosque continued, up to the Saudi era in which the largest expansion took place, to accommodate more than 20,000 worshipers, where the northern part of the mosque was designated for women with a capacity of more than 7,000 worshipers. One of the most important landmarks for pilgrims and visitors coming to Al-Madinah are the Seven Mosques. Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah was known for its many mountains and valleys, which were linked to the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Among the most important of these mountains is Mount Uhud and next to it is the Shuhada (Martyrs) of Uhud Cemetery, which includes the graves of 70 martyrs of the Sahabah (The Companions of Prophet Muhammad) who were martyred during the Battle of Uhud. The mountain is a distinguished landmark in the Prophet's biography and Islamic history. Between the mountains' slopes of Al-Madinah are valleys walked by the Prophet. These valleys witnessed ancient civilizations that settled in Al-Madinah or passed through it, as some of these civilizations were mentioned in the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, or discovered at this age through inscriptions and drawings that appeared on rocks as signs of creatures who lived on the land of the Arabian Peninsula during the eras before and after Islam. Wadi Al-Aqeeq or the (Blessed Valley) is considered one of the most important of these valleys, as it its mentioned in many Hadiths that show its virtue and the beauty of its nature, where the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, used to go out to enjoy its nice air and weather.
