City Layout today

At the heart of the Holy City of Makkah is the al Masjid al Haram (the Holy Mosque) which contains the Holy Kaaba (the House of God) and the Well of Zamzam. The expansion of the city has been constrained by its location between mountains to the east and west. The old city lies to the north and the southwest. In the last fifty years, there has been further enlargement by extending the city along the roads to Mina, Jeddah and Madinah. The city has also been modernized with new road networks At the same time, parts of the old city have been demolished to allow for further expansion of the Holy Mosque. It now occupies 1.7 million square meters and can accommodate 300,000 people at one time.