The hotel building forms just part of part of the Abraj al-Bait complex, a Gotham City-like eruption of seven huge towers, conveniently sited a stone's throw from the Great Mosque.

ECONOMIST: A Saudi tower

After the Tawaf - walking around the Kaaba, the cube-like structure at the centre of the Great Mosque in Mecca - we will offer two rakaas or units of prayer, followed by drinking water from the holy Zam Zam spring.

BBC: Aerial view of Great Mosque at Mecca - file 2006

"Please tell people that Turkey is still a safe place to come, " said Yakup Sari, office manager at Istanbul's other great landmark, the Blue Mosque.

BBC: NEWS | Europe | Tourists defy Istanbul bombers

But the Pope's supporters will be hoping that by visiting Muslim holy sites - he was the first pontiff to go to the great compound of al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem - he will have improved the overall tone of relations between the Catholic Church and some at least of Islam's believers.

BBC: Reflections on Pope's Holy Land tour

There was a great tendency that the Egyptians prayed only in the mosque for Egyptians.

NPR: 'Mecca and Main Street': U.S. Muslims After Sept. 11