Author
Ahmed bin Basu and Ali from Ghamara.
Author Original
أحمد بن باسو وعلي من غمارة
Publication Date
580 – 594 / 1184 – 1198
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;es;Mon01;9;ar
Library Location
Seville, Spain
Date
580 – 594 / 1184 – 1198
Notes
The most significant monument among all the remains of religious buildings dating back to the Almohad period that have been preserved on the peninsula is without a doubt the minaret of the Great Mosque of Seville, known under the name “The Giralda.” The first works on the Great Mosque of Seville began under the rule of Abu Yaqub Yusuf, who lived in Seville as its caretaker, before he ascended the throne and turned the city into a residence for the Almohad caliphs on the peninsula. The dimensions and height of the new mosque required the completion of a large minaret, the construction of which was entrusted to the chief builder, Ahmad ibn Basu, who began the foundations for the tower in AH 580 / AD 1184. The death of the king in the same year led to the cessation of works until the arrival in Seville of his son and successor, Abu Yusuf Yaqub, in AD 584 / AD 1188 - AD 1189, who completed the work under the direction of Ali of Ghamara. The minaret was completed on 30 Rabi' al-Thani 594 / 10 March 1198, the date on which the Caliph, surrounded by his entourage and the people of Seville, came to lay the jamur, consisting of three gilded balls to crown the tower, which he had commissioned to celebrate the Battle of the Arc. The minaret, which rests on the eastern wall of the mosque and protrudes from its surroundings, consists of two square prisms, embedded one into the other, and carrying a central core in which seven vaulted rooms are superimposed. Between the two prisms, a handrail extends leading to the upper part. The height from floor to roof is 50.85 metres. The minaret retains almost all of the exterior decoration of its four facades. The lower part is smooth, barely interrupted by slits of light openings with lobed arches and arches framed by alphyses. In the center of the tower, the decoration of each facade is divided into three panels. The central panel, as in the upper part, is filled with openings for light – here twin windows are cut into a large solid arch framed with Alvis; The ends of the side walls were covered with a lattice of carved and cut bricks, on a smooth floor, created by the expansion and intersection of the two solid arches supported by columns. The upper part of the tower was decorated with six solid arches on each facade, which also rested on marble columns with Umayyad bodies and capitals. Like other monuments of the same style, the minaret was crowned with graduated merlons, of which only traces remain above the current bell parapet. In 1355 AD, an earthquake led to the collapse of the gamour. During the Christian period, and exactly in the year 1560, work began on the new structure, which carries a wind vane above it that was popularly called the “Gheralda,” which gave its name to the tower.
Sample Text
Margarita Sánchez Llorente “The Giralda” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;es;Mon01;9;ar
