Kairouan

The Great Mosque at Kairouan was built in the 800's AD, in the time of the Abbasid Empire. This was the same time as the reign of Charlemagne. But it was much grander than anything being built in Europe at this time.

These are some more pictures of the mosque at Kairouan. Here you can see the columns of the peristyle that goes around the big courtyard. A lot of the columns were taken from old Roman buildings that had fallen down. Can you see that the arches come in again at the bottom a little like a keyhole? This kind of arch was invented by the Visigoths in Spain, and then when the Umayyads conquered Spain the use of this keyhole arch spread all around the Mediterranean Sea.

The minaret of the Kairouan mosque, built in the late 700's AD, is the oldest one in the world that is still standing.

This is the entrance to the prayer hall of the Kairouan mosque. All the men go inside this hall to pray kneeling on mats on the floor, and to hear sermons given by the imam. When people are not praying, sometimes this room is used for a school. Women, and men who are not Muslims, are not allowed inside the prayer hall.

More Abbasid architecture
Main Islamic architecture page
Main Islam page