“Mecca The Forbidden City” is a black-and-white British picture taking its viewer to the Saudi Arabian city. The center of the Islamic religion is shown beginning at mark 01:00, with a brief narrative of Islam’s origins. The film shows how Muslims travel as part of the Hajj to Mecca from all over the world. At mark 03:53 we see Mecca’s market places, where bartering and trading occurs just as it had for 2,000 years, as well as a look at a solemn moment of prayer (mark 04:46). Pilgrims are shown traveling to Mecca by ship (mark 05:55), entering the Red Sea at mark 11:38, and being called to one of five daily prayers. Growing nearer to setting foot on the hallowed ground of the holy land of Mecca at mark 16:45, the film continues to capture the voyage of the pilgrims as they pass through Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. Some travel by bus while other pilgrims choose other, more humble means or transportation such as camel (mark 19:36) before finally reaching the forbidden city of Mecca (mark 21:30) and showing never-before-seen scenes from its streets.
Mecca (/ˈmɛkə/) or Makkah (Arabic: مكة Makkah) is a city in the Hejaz in Saudi Arabia, the capital of its Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during the hajj (“pilgrimage”) period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah.
As the birthplace of Muhammad and the site of Muhammad’s first revelation of the Quran (specifically, a cave 3 km (2 mi) from Mecca), Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in the religion of Islam and a pilgrimage to it known as the Hajj is obligatory for all able Muslims. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islam’s holiest site, as well as being the direction of Muslim prayer. Mecca was long ruled by Muhammad’s descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925. In its modern period, Mecca has seen tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, home to structures such as the Abraj Al Bait, also known as the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, the world’s fourth tallest building and the building with the third largest amount of floor area. During this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj. As a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city.
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