Mosque de quairoan

The Great Mosque of Qairouan

The Great Mosque of Qairouan (GMQ) also known as the Great Mosque of Uqba is the most important Mosque in Tunisia ( www.sacred–destinations.com ). In Africa, it isalso the oldest Muslim place of worship and is thought of as the 4th holiest sites in Islam, coming after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem (www.sacred-destinations.com ). An Arab general named Uqba Ben Nafifounded the GMQ in 670 A.D. It was one of the first stone mosques built.
This mosque is made up of stone. Its massive stonewall exterior is meant to be intimidating and create a strong and powerfulpresence for its leaders who hold both military and religious power. “The exterior of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, with buttressed walls, is in the typically austere Aghlabid design” as stated inhttp://www.sacred-destinations.com/tunisia/kairouan-great-mosque . Although it uses this simple design it is not a modest mosque and that shows when seeing the impressive Minaret looking over the city.For someone who has never seen a mosque this one may seem like more of a fortress then a temple of worship but in reality every one of its architectural features ties in with the Islamic religion andbeliefs.
The structure was made emphasizing certain areas through three domes, which tower over it and mark the significant areas of the mosque. From the northern side of the mosque we find themighty minaret towering over the village 115ft high. The minaret is used to remind the town that it is protected by the Islamic faith. It is followed by the courtyard, which is paved with flagstones tothe intricately decorated draining hole in the center. The mosque’s courtyard is surrounded by horseshoe-arches or porticoes. The courtyard itself contains about 400 ancient pillars. Many of thesewere reused from Roman, Latin Christian and Byzantine buildings. On the opposite side of the courtyard, across from the minaret is the prayer hall. The prayer hall is the space where followers go to...