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Facade of the Islamic Centre in Malé, a white structure with a tall minaret.Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0

05Story

On the timeline

Coral built, then a resort, then a reserve

Malé’s Friday Mosque was completed in 1658 from coral stone. The first resort opened in 1972. The Islamic Centre with its white dome followed in 1984. Baa became a biosphere reserve in 2011. Coral-stone mosques entered the UNESCO Tentative List in the centre’s 2013 record on the official page.

  1. 1658

    Completion of Malé’s Friday Mosque after building began in 1656, from interlocking coral blocks.

  2. 1972

    Kurumba opens on 3 October, the country’s first resort on an island in North Malé.

  3. 1984

    Opening of the Islamic Centre in Malé with dome and minaret, as an urban architectural landmark.

  4. 2011

    Baa Atoll joins UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves in June.

  5. 2013

    Coral-stone mosques on the World Heritage Tentative List per the UNESCO page.