Publication Date
6th century AH / 12th century AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;9;ar
Library Location
The village of Tinmel, located in the High Atlas Mountains, 100 km south of the city of Marrakesh, Tinmel village, Morocco
Date
6th century AH / 12th century AD
Notes
Ibn Tumart settled in the small village of Tanmel in the year 515 AH / 1121 AD, and formed the nucleus of the Almohad movement, which declared him the “Mahdi”. It was from this site that the conquest of Morocco began, and it was in this place that he was buried in the year 521 AH / 1130 AD. When the Almohads tightened their grip on power, the Imam’s tomb was transformed into a holy place and a place of pilgrimage. In the year 548 AH / 1154 AD, Sultan Abd al-Mu’min built on the holy site, at the same time as the Koutoubia Mosque, an important mosque. It was demolished due to its remoteness and location in an isolated area, and it was not restored until the end of the twentieth century (no rooms were moved from the site, which has always remained revered by the inhabitants). The dimensions of the mosque are modest (48 meters long and 43.6 meters wide). A courtyard measuring 23.65 meters long and 16.70 meters wide. Its sides are surrounded by two porticoes that form an extension of the tiles of the prayer house. The materials used mainly consist of bricks and mortar made from a mixture of sand, dirt, lime and gravel. The prayer hall is organized into nine naves that go towards the depth. The transverse altarpiece that follows the qibla wall, the axial altarpiece and the two side altarpieces are distinguished by their width exceeding the width of the interior naves, which made it possible to cover the mihrab and the side corners, with domes completely furnished with muqarnas, which are among the oldest muqarnas in Spanish-Moroccan art. The mihrab forms the main part of the decoration, and at the same time it remains simple and strong, thanks to a recessed and slightly extended arch, accompanied by a second high recessed arch. Rising, and an enveloping third contract increases the strength of the total. Meanwhile, secondary elements such as small domes, floral decorations, and arches with arches and protrusions remained modest so as not to affect the focus of the believers. Arches with arches are spread between the arches of the conclusive metaphor and the other arches: two arches decorated with simple lobes surround a three-lobed arch in the shape of a pediment, on both sides of the mihrab, and with smooth and broken arches in other places. The crowns followed the same logic in distribution; It was rich and varied in the mihrab and in the altarpiece, and simple in form and similar in other parts of the mosque. Although geometric and floral decorations coexisted abundantly, the epigraphic decoration is not present, and is only found on some perforated gypsum panels at the base of the domes, which is a distinctive feature of Almohad religious art. Three doors open symmetrically in each of the side walls, and are highlighted on the facade by The arcades advanced above it, while a small door without a niche was opened to lead to the courtyard, and two narrow openings on either side of the mihrab. The minaret rises on a rectangular base measuring 9.50 meters long and 5.50 meters wide. It has lost its upper part and protrudes above the mihrab. The Tinmel Mosque is considered the original model of Almohad architectural, engineering and decorative art.
Sample Text
Kamal Lakhdar “Tanmil Mosque” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;9;ar
