Wahat Al Karama officially opens doors to visitors

The Martyrs’ Families’ Affairs Office at the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, has announced that Wahat Al Karama, a memorial site created to honour the UAE’s martyrs, would be officially open to visitors from 6th December.

The site will remain open every day from 9 am to 7 pm - except on national occasions, events and visits from official delegations - to all members of the UAE community, citizens and residents alike, as well as tourists, enabling them to explore its main features and facilities.

 Spanned across 46,000 sq. m., it is symbolically located between the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and the General Headquarters of the UAE Armed Forces. The site, which includes the Memorial, the Memorial Plaza and the Pavilion of Honour which immortalise the sacrifices of the UAE’s heroes, and the Visitors’ Centre, will be listed among the historical and heritage sites in the UAE.

Visitors can opt for any of the two daily tours, one at 10 am and another at 5 pm, accompanied by a tour guide, who will explain in detail all its features. Honour guards from the Armed Forces will perform a ceremony during morning and late afternoon.

"Wahat al Karama is a national and cultural landmark that immortalises the sacrifices made by the UAE’s heroes, thus adhering to the vision of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Wahat Al Karama embodies the values of unity, solidarity, and synergy between the leadership and the people that are so deeply embedded into the culture of the UAE," said Sheikh Khalifa bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Director of the Martyrs’ Families’ Affairs Office.  

The Memorial itself is made up of 31 massive aluminium-clad tablets, in addition to the spine, each leaning on the other, symbolising the unity, solidarity and mutual support that bind together the leadership, the citizens and the servicemen and women who protect them.

The long spine at the rear of the Memorial is engraved with the Pledge of Allegiance of the UAE Armed Forces and symbolically supports the other panels.

The remaining panels are inscribed with a series of poems and quotations by the UAE’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, as well as President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The Memorial is made up of nearly 300 tonnes of steel and 900 aluminium panels.

Wahat Al Karama also includes the Memorial Plaza. Sprawled over more than 4,000 sq. m., the plaza is a wide, circular space, offering clear view of the Memorial and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The Pavilion of Honour, another component of Wahat Al Karama, boasts a roof constructed from eight slabs, seven symbolising the emirates of the UAE while the eighth represents the UAE’s heroes.

At the centre of the Pavilion is a composition of seven large, transparent glass panels, representing the seven emirates, surrounded by a pool of slowly moving water. On the front and the back of each panel is the Pledge of Allegiance of the UAE Armed Forces, legible from whichever side a visitor reads it. Two passages from the Qur’an are also inscribed in the Pavilion of Honour.

The first verse is engraved on aluminium on the right side of the entrance, while the second adorns the back wall above the panel, carrying the names of the heroes, directly above the glass sculpture facing the entrance.

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