"Al Rahma mosque beckons gently from the northern tip of Jeddah’s waterfront, a turquoise-domed structure built out across the Red Sea and anchored to the shore by a low-walled walkway.

A local landmark, the structure is affectionately known as the ‘floating mosque’ for the white stilts that suspend it above the water’s edge. At high tide, glinting in the sunlight, the mosque appears to hover serenely over the waves below.

Visitors come to wander the mosque’s open courtyard, admire its marbled elegance, and paddle in the nearby shallows. Over the years it has proved especially popular among Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, for whom Jeddah remains the gateway to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina, but it’s a favored stop for tourists too."