What is the Kaaba?

The Kaaba sits in the Courtyard of the Great Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

The Kaaba (Ka’aba, Ka’bah, “Cube,” “House of God”) is a shrine located in a square adjacent to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. The Kaaba itself is Islam’s holiest site. The surrounding square has been enlarged to over 16,000 square meters and can accommodate over 300,000 Muslim pilgrims. When Muslims pray the required five times each day, they face not simply Mecca, but the Kaaba in Mecca; Muslims praying in Mecca turn towards the Kaaba instead of facing just any direction.