The Three Doors Mosque, although relatively modest in size, is an important monument in Kairouan because, with its ancient ornamentation dating back to the reign of the Aghlabids and its original inscriptions, the façade holds a special place in Islamic architecture.

The façade, seven meters high, is the most remarkable component of the building. Considered one of the most beautiful specimens of Islamic architecture, it constitutes a veritable inventory of the Kairouan decorative repertoire during the Aghlabid period1. Its layout, axial and symmetrical, comprises three paired and horseshoe arches which rest on reused antique columns; the middle one is taller and wider than the other two. The spandrels of the arches are decorated with an exuberant decoration of scrollwork interwoven with stylized three- or five-lobed vine leaves which recall the decoration of the painted wooden half-dome of the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Kairouan.