Every day, getting up to pray, millions of Muslims turn their eyes towards the holy city of Mecca. It is located 73 kilometers from the Red Sea, in an arid and uninhabitable area, surrounded by the Hejaz Mountains and Tihama semi-deserts.
The most important shrine of Mecca is the Forbidden Mosque, which is located in the market square at the end of the central street. Muslims call it the "House of God" and believe that it is she who is the center of the entire universe.
The Kaaba, as the mosque is called because of its cube-like shape, is a sacred place for many Muslims from all over the world. This is repeatedly mentioned in the Quran.
According to ancient legends, the Kaaba was erected by the progenitor of mankind himself - Adam. After he was expelled from paradise for the fall, Adam lost the opportunity to pray as he did in the heavenly temple and decided to build a temple on earth.
God had mercy on the sinner and sent him a stone hanging in the air to serve Adam as forests in the construction of the temple. Now this stone is located near the Kaaba. The prints of the feet of the progenitor are clearly visible on it.
In order to designate the place from which it was necessary to begin the ritual rounds of the Kaaba, God sent Adam the famous black stone. Pilgrims strive to kiss him and then walk around the mosque seven times.
Scientists around the world are trying to determine the origin of the famous stone, but versions collapse one after another. The stone is not a meteorite, its composition is not similar to any other earthly mineral. He does not drown in water and cannot stand movement.
Not far from Mecca is the famous Zamzam spring. There is another legend about him. When the maid of the ancestor of the Arab tribes Ibrahim gave birth to a son from him, her legal wife drove her out of the palace with her child.
After a long wandering, the servant decided to leave her son in the desert and leave him so as not to see him die. The child began to cry and kick it on the ground. The mother returned and saw that a source began to beat under the baby's foot.
To remember the wanderings and torments that this woman took upon herself, Muslims perform another ritual. Each pilgrim must run seven times to the end of the main street and return back. The street is about 400 meters long.
