is a mosque situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town
of Kairouan, Tunisia.

Established by the
Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi in 670 (the year 50
according to the Islamic calendar) at the
founding of the city of Kairouan, the mosque is spread over a surface area of
9,000 square metres and it is one of the oldest places of worship in the Islamic world, as well as a model for all later mosques in
the Maghreb. The Great Mosque of Kairouan is one of the most impressive
and largest Islamic monuments in North Africa; its perimeter is almost equal to 405 metres
(1,328 feet). This space contains a hypostyle prayer hall, a marble-paved courtyard and a
square minaret. In addition to its spiritual prestige, the Mosque of Uqba is
one of the masterpieces of Islamic architecture, notable
among other things for the first Islamic use of the horseshoe arch.

Under the Aghlabids (9th century), huge works gave the mosque its
present aspect. The fame of the Mosque of Uqba and of the other holy sites
at Kairouan helped the city to develop and repopulate
increasingly. The university, consisting of scholars who taught in the mosque,
was a centre of education both in Islamic thought and in the secular sciences.
Its role can be compared to that of the University of Paris in
the Middle Ages With the decline of the city of Kairouan from
the mid-11th century, the centre of intellectual thought moved to the University of Ez-Zitouna in
Tunis.

Located in the north-east of the medina of Kairouan, the mosque is in the intramural
district of Houmat al-Jami (literally “area of the Great Mosque”)This
location corresponded originally to the heart of the urban fabric of the city
founded by Uqba ibn Nafi. However given the natural
lay of the land crossed by several tributaries of the wadis,
the urban development of the city spread southwards. Human factors
including Hilalian‘s invasions in 449 AH (1057 AD) led to the decline of the city and halted
development. For all these reasons, the mosque which once occupies the center
of the median when first built in 670 is now on the easternmost
quarter abutting the city walls.

The building is a
vast slightly irregular quadrilateral covering some 9,000 m².
It is longer (127.60 meters) on the east side than the west (125.20 meters),
and shorter on the north side (72.70 meters) then the south (78 meters). The
main minaret is centered on the north.

From the outside,
the Great Mosque of Kairouan is a fortress-like building with its 1.90 meters
thick massive ocher walls, a composite of well-worked stones with intervening
courses of rubble stone and baked bricks.
The corner towers measuring 4.25 meters on each side are buttressed with solid projecting supports. Structurally
given the soft grounds subject to compaction, the buttressed towers added
stability to the entire mosque. Despite the austere facades, the rhythmic
patterns of buttresses and towering porches,
some surmounted by cupolas, give the sanctuary a sense of
striking sober grandeur.