Koutoubia

The Mosque Koutoubia (Arab: rear RTL كُتُبية) is a religious building built at the 12th century with Marrakech (Morocco) and representative of the art of Almohades.

History

The Koutoubia mosque, or mosque of the booksellers , was begun under the dynasty Berbère from the Almoravides in 1120, but was deeply altered starting from 1162 pennies the emir Almohade Abu Yusuf Yaqub Al-Mansur, and became one of the buildings most characteristic of this style. Its name comes owing to the fact that it was located in the Souk merchants of manuscripts.

Structure

Like the majority of its Moroccan compatriots, the mosque of the booksellers is organized on a plan in T. This tradition exists since the construction of the mosque of Kairouan at the 9th century, and is also found in Spain. It acts in fact of a plane hypostyle Arabic, i.e. comprising a large court surrounded by a gantry and a room of prayer to columns. The naves are perpendicular to the wall of Qibla, that of the center being broader; and the span which skirts the wall qibli is also magnifiée, which forms one T, from where the name. The Mihrab is treated like a very major niche, and the Minaret, high of 69 m, is of square section, according to the tradition of the Moslem occident.

Decoration

The dynasty Almohade, which adhered to the rite malikite, sponsored a rather austere architecture, reflecting a certain asceticism. The Koutoubia mosque does not make exception: its sobriety is noticed by its examination. The arcs employed can be exceeded or multifoil, but remain naked.

The Minaret later (completion in 1196), and is decorated more: one notices in particular an important work of interlaced arcs (sebka). It is surmounted by three gilded copper balls which would symbolize the terrestrial world, the celestial world and the spiritual world. It was useful, inter alia, of model for the Giralda of Seville.

the decoration external of the minaret is different on the four faces: painting on coating with ornaments floral and epigraphic, network of interlacing in relief where paintings are intercalated, earthenware stringcourse with white net on turquoise bottom, sometimes intermingled blind arcades. It is built out of schistous sandstone originating in the careers of Guéliz. Admirably proportioned: 12,80 on side for 69 height with the skylight (77 m to the point of the arrow), with a wall external of 2,50 Mr. In the center of the tower, an external core shelters six superimposed rooms. Around this one, a soft inclined slope leads to the covered way. The platform is surrounded by a covered way protected by a notched balustrade from merlons. The skylight, high of 16 m, seems a second minaret posed on the first. It is surmounted by a metal stem at which four gilded balls of decreasing size are fixed, largest being 6 m in diameter. They are made plates of gilded copper rivetted between them.

Furniture

The mosque of the booksellers preserves splendid a Minbar going back to 1137, made with Cordoue for another mosque. Like the majority of those of occident, it mobile (on wheels), is composed of various wood turpentines but ivory. The invoice of the decoration, extremely fine, in ajourements, would have taken seven years. It presents in particular small arcs stuck the ones to the others which mark emmarchements, and a taste of polychromy is notable there.

See too

Random links: