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The Great Mosque of Taza

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The enlargement of the great mosque of Taza was one of the first Marinid building projects. According to inscriptions on the mosque, the sultan Abu Ya’qub Yousef (reg. 1286-1307) nearly doubled the size of the Almohad prayer hall by adding four bays in the direction of the qibla and two bays on the east and west. The Marinid arches are wider than their original Almohad counterparts, and are further distinguished by a rounder horseshoe shape. From the exterior, the Marinid additions are marked by a break in the gabled tiling of the roof.

The bay preceding the mihrab is decorated with intricately carved plaster, and is capped by an ornate Marinid dome with an eight-sided drum carried on lambrequin arches and muqarnas squinches. Triangular windows are located between the squinches. The dome itself is formed of thirty-two interlaced ribs that meet at the apex to form a sixteen-sided star. Between the ribs are pierced epigraphic and arabesque carvings that frame a receding muqarnas disc. The prototype for this intricate dome is believed to be the Almohad dome in the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, dated 1136.The intricately carved stucco mihrab is an octagonal niche framed by a horseshoe arch. To the right of the mihrab is a closet housing the delicate wooden minbar, which typically would be rolled out when needed for Friday sermons. The minbar is of typical Almoravid construction with marquetry decoration in rare wood and ivory.

In the center of the prayer hall, the three bays that marked the mihrab in the original mosque are covered with pyramidal wooden roofs that are supported by arches with elaborate stucco carvings. A conical bronze chandelier, the largest remaining example of its type in North Africa, hangs from the central bay. Composed of nine circular tiers of diminishing size and with a capacity of 512 glass oil lamps, it is adorned with delicately carved epigraphy and arabesques. Its hollow underside mimics the decorative geometry of the Marinid dome in front of the mihrab.

Mosque Data

Architect

Type

Central

Country

United Kingdom

Owner/Founder

The Almohad sultan Abd al-Mu'min

Year

1142

Area

3000

Drawings

Interactive Map

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