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Maghrebi architecture, influenced by
Andalusi architecture, is thus in part due to this Almoravid patronage. Bloom also notes that although we know the Almoravids built many other mosques, few examples of their architecture have survived, and therefore the Great Mosque of Tlemcen may not have been as "original" in its time as it appears now and its exceptional features today may have existed in other mosques that have now disappeared. The Almoravid expansion of the Qarawiyyin Mosque, for example, shows even more elaborate decoration overall than the Tlemcen mosque, although using different elements.
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celebrated ornamental dome and elaborate decoration added to the mosque by Ali ibn Yusuf, however, is considered exceptional and an important testimony of
Almoravid craftsmanship which has rarely survived elsewhere. The design of the mosque's ornamental dome traces its origins to the 10th-century ribbed domes of the Great Mosque of Cordoba and subsequent domes in Al-Andalus, and in turn it inspired similar ornate domes in the
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439:, is an ornamental ribbed dome, likely added by Yaghmorasan in the 13th century. Another ornamental dome, older and more intricate, covers the bay in front of the mihrab. Some of the arch pillars near the mihrab also feature marble columns. The mihrab itself is an alcove in the wall which opens through a horseshoe arch framed by intricate
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remarks that the evidence simply suggests that the
Almoravids, especially at the height of their power and culture under Ali ibn Yusuf, could afford to import craftsmen from Al-Andalus to work on their new monuments in North Africa. The increased ornamental complexity and sophistication of subsequent
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motifs springing from engaged columns below. An odd detail is the fact that the decorative panel on the courtyard side is uneven: the space between the engaged columns on the left is wider than the others, causing an uneven spacing within the sebka pattern above it as well. The top of the minaret was
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The original
Almoravid mosque presumably had no minaret, as the current minaret was only added in 1236 by Yaghmorasan. The minaret is made of brick and has a typical square floor plan, measuring 6.3 meters (21 feet) per side. It has a two-tiered shaft: the main shaft is 26.2 meters (86 feet) tall and
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dates from this renovation, which an inscription below the dome indicates was completed in 1136. Curiously, however, the actual name of the emir has been erased from the inscription, possibly by the
Almohads who ruled the city after the Almoravids. It is also believed that the old Almoravid palace of
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The floor plan of the mosque is approximately 50 by 60 meters (160 by 200 feet) deep. Although the mosque is designed for a typical rectangular floor plan, the northwestern corner of the mosque is truncated because of the original presence of a palace on this side. Like most North
African mosques,
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described a chandelier that he had made and that had been moved to the Great Mosque of
Tlemcen. The largest and lowest part of the chandelier had a circumference of around 8 metres (26 ft) and was made of cedar wood clad with sheets of copper that were pierced with floral motifs. In the 19th
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The intricate ribbed dome in front of the mihrab is considered a highlight of
Almoravid architecture and dates to the renovation of Ali ibn Yusuf. The structure of the dome is strictly ornamental, consisting of multiple ribs or intersecting arches forming a twelve-pointed star pattern. It is also
541:. Indeed, there are historical reports of a former room (now vanished) in the Aljaferia whose vaulted ceiling had openwork decoration reminiscent of the mosque's openwork dome, although the remains of decoration in the palace today suggest it was less delicate and subtle than the mosque's dome.
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dynasty of
Tlemcen, added the mosque's minaret near its courtyard. Yaghmorasan also modified the areas around the courtyard and extended the mosque structure northwards. The original mosque likely had a larger rectangular courtyard whose position and proportions would have been similar to the
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Antonio
Almagro, in an analysis of the mosque's architecture, has argued that its original shape and proportions were similar to those of major mosques in Al-Andalus such as the Great Mosque of Cordoba but that this parallel is now somewhat obscured by later modifications to the mosque. The
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control, the mosque was declared, along with other major monuments of the city, a "Historic Monument" and placed under certain protective measures. Around the same time, French architects carried out the first modern repairs, restorations, and studies of the mosque.
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Suspended from the ribbed dome in the center of the prayer hall is a large circular chandelier. By popular tradition, its origin is attributed to a donation by Yaghmorasan in the 13th century. William and Georges Marçais speculated that it could be a work of
340:, whereas Yaghmorasan's modifications left the mosque with a square courtyard whose middle axis is no longer aligned with the middle axis of the mosque. The less ornate dome in the middle of the prayer hall today probably also dates from this time.
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century, the chandelier had fallen into disrepair. Its remains were moved to a local museum and a replacement inside the mosque was created in the 20th century by Mohammed ben Kalfate, a metalworker and artisan from Tlemcen.
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a secondary lantern tower above this brings the total height to 29.15 meters (95.6 feet) meters. The four facades of the main shaft of the minaret are decorated with carved panels of
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screen. The screen has since been moved to the Museum of Art and History in Tlemcen. It bears an inscription dating it to 1138, also around the time of Ali ibn Yusuf's renovation.
527:, both built in the later Marinid period. Almagro and others see further parallels between the mosque's features and the decorative features found in the architecture of the
270:. It was founded and first built in 1082 but modified and embellished several times afterwards. It is considered one of the most important examples of architecture under the
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formerly crowned with an Arabic inscription made in copper, the pieces of which were moved to a local museum before 1903.
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Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700-1800
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decoration that fills the spaces between the ribs. The area below this dome, the
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M. Bloom, Jonathan; S. Blair, Sheila, eds. (2009). "Tlemcen".
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1004:(in French). Bastide, Alessi et Arnolet. pp. 89–90.
647:"The Great Mosque of Tlemcen and the Dome of its Maqsura"
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11th-century Almoravid-era mosque in northwestern Algeria
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The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture
703:. Paris: Arts et métiers graphiques. pp. 192–197.
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Next to the mosque there used to be an Islamic court (
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MWNF (Museum With No Frontiers), Discover Islamic Art
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History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
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Religious buildings and structures completed in 1082
945:(in French). Albert Fontemoing. pp. 156–158.
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1031:(in French). Vol. 29–32. 1948. p. 122.
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961:"L'eclairage Des Mosquees En Occident Musulman"
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794:Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers
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347:) and an Islamic university. In 1875, during
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936:Marçais, William; Marçais, Georges (1903).
751:. Yale University Press. pp. 115–119.
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877:(in French). Paris: LienArt. p. 50.
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897:. Yale University Press. p. 179.
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1159:Mausoleum of Sidi M'hamed Bou Qobrine
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939:Les monuments arabes de Tlemcen
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765:from the original on 2024-01-14
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998:Brosselard, Charles (1858).
256:el-Jemaa el-Kebir litilimcen
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1272:Abdelhamid Ben Badis Mosque
1190:Great Mosque of Constantine
1154:Shrine of Sidi Abder Rahman
891:Bloom, Jonathan M. (2020).
852:. Oxford University Press.
745:Bloom, Jonathan M. (2020).
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521:Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid
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588:List of mosques in Algeria
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1267:Abdellah Ben Salem Mosque
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583:List of mosques in Africa
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1246:Great Mosque of Nedroma
1052:Great Mosque of Tlemcen
965:Quaderni di Studi Arabi
959:Golvin, Lucien (1987).
873:Salmon, Xavier (2018).
563:Great Mosque of Nedroma
558:Great Mosque of Algiers
445:Great Mosque of Cordoba
414:(niche symbolizing the
244:Great Mosque of Tlemcen
22:Great Mosque of Tlemcen
1382:Almoravid architecture
1236:Sidi Boumediene Mosque
1180:Emir Abdelkader Mosque
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1241:Sidi El Haloui Mosque
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1231:Sidi Belahcen Mosque
573:Moorish architecture
525:Great Mosque of Taza
117:Shown within Algeria
1277:Hassan Pasha Mosque
1205:Sidi Lakhdar Mosque
1200:El Baydhaoui Mosque
1195:Sidi Kettani Mosque
1164:Djamaâ Sidi Ramdane
824:www.qantara-med.org
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368:and the transverse
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1362:Mosques in Tlemcen
1341:Mosques by country
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165:Architecture
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1356:Categories
1012:2024-02-01
915:2021-05-03
834:2021-02-22
769:2021-05-03
651:Al-Qantara
599:References
537:palace of
507:Ibn Marzuq
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977:1121-2306
535:Aljaferia
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190:Almoravid
140:1°18′38″W
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552:See also
539:Zaragoza
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