Great Mosque of Tlemcen

The Great Mosque of Tlemcen was founded in 1082 under the Almoravids and enlarged in the following century, and it holds one of the finest pieces of western Islamic architecture in the country: the dome in front of the mihrab, built of pierced and carved plaster ribs arranged so that light filters through the openings into the prayer hall below, with a carved plaster mihrab beneath it worked in vegetal and epigraphic ornament. The prayer hall is a grid of horseshoe arches on piers. The minaret was added in the thirteenth century under the Zayyanids, whose capital this was, and stands over the courtyard beside the old town centre.

History

The Almoravid emir Yusuf ibn Tashfin founded the mosque in 1082, when he founded the city of Tagrart, today's Tlemcen, beside the older city of Agadir, and his son Ali ibn Yusuf renovated and decorated it; the celebrated dome before the mihrab comes from this work, finished in 1136 according to an inscription from which the emir's name was later erased, possibly by the Almohads who followed. In 1236 Yaghmorasan, founder of the Zayyanid dynasty of Tlemcen, added the minaret by the courtyard and extended the mosque northwards, leaving the square courtyard out of line with the axis of the prayer hall. An Islamic court and university once stood beside it, and in 1875 the French declared it a historic monument (Wikipedia, Great Mosque of Tlemcen).

Highlights

• The pierced plaster dome - carved ribs filtering light over the mihrab.
• The carved mihrab - vegetal and inscribed plasterwork.
• Horseshoe arch prayer hall - the Almoravid grid on piers.
• The thirteenth-century minaret - the Zayyanid addition over the court.

When to go

March to June and September to November. One hour. Come outside prayer times, dress modestly, and expect women to be asked to cover their hair.

Before you go

Access for non-Muslims depends on who is at the door and is not guaranteed. Interior photography is often not permitted. The dome is difficult to see well in low light. There is no interpretation on site.

Nearby

The Mechouar palace is nearby; Mansourah lies west.

Key facts