Taj Mahal, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre and Hagia Sofia Museum among top landmarks globally

TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice for the top 25 landmarks include three with Islamic history:

Source: Taj Mahal website.

Ranked no. 3 is the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. The memorial, built by the 5th Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (1592 – 1666) to house the grave of his wife Mumtaz Mahal (also named Arjumand Banu Begum, 1593 - 1631), is considered the best of example of Mughal architecture, which combines elements from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It received an 'excellent' rating from 8,807 TripAdvisor reviewers, and a 'very good' rating from another 1,329 reviewers, out of a total of 10,515 reviews.

Source: the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre website.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre in Abu Dhabi, the UAE is no. 4. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is visible from the three main bridges connecting Abu Dhabi island to the mainland, and aims to highlight the heritage of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The late Sheikh, first President of the UAE, is buried beside the mosque. It received an 'excellent' rating from 7,269 TripAdvisor  reviewers, and a 'very good' rating from another 1,037 reviewers, out of a total of 8,476 reviews.

Source: Hagia Sophia Museum website.

At no. 15 is the Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul, Turkey. This building was first used as a church for 916 years, then converted into a mosque following the conquest of Istanbul by Fatih Sultan Mehmed. The Hagia Sophia remained a mosque for 482 years and was turned into a museum by the order of Atatürk and the Council of Ministers in 1935. It received an 'excellent' rating from 1,302 TripAdvisor reviewers, and a 'very good' rating from another 3,821 reviewers, out of a total of 17,957 reviews.

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View TripAdvisor's top 25 landmarks

TripAdvisor identifies top Islamic landmarks through Travelers' Choice awards

Two of the world's top 10 landmarks in the top three have an Islamic background, according to TripAdvisor, the travel site.

The company has announced its Travelers’ Choice awards for Attractions, highlighting the top landmarks and parks around the globe. In the second year of the awards for these categories, 929 winners were identified.

Top 10 World Landmarks:

2. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE

3. Taj Mahal, Agra, India

"Grand is an understatement. The architecture, the white marble and the beautifully maintained green gardens are stunning," reads a comment on the Tripadvisor site about Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, rated the no. 2 attraction in the world and the top attraction in the Middle East.

No. 4 on the top ten list for the Middle East is Masjid an-Nabi in Medina, Saudi Arabia, and at no. 8 is the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman. 

Sultan Qaboos mosque, or the Grand Mosque, in Muscat, Oman has one of the
largest carpets in the world.

Travelers’ Choice awards honour top travel spots worldwide based on the millions of valuable reviews and opinions from TripAdvisor travelers. Award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews for landmark and park attractions worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period.

"TripAdvisor travelers have helped identify some of the best attractions around the globe,” said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor. “These award-winning landmarks and parks are an ideal starting point for taking in the world’s must-see sights.”

See the full list of Travelers' Choice awards here.