Publication Date
13th - 14th century AH / 19th century AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;32;ar
Library Location
Tangier, Morocco
Date
13th - 14th century AH / 19th century AD
Notes
Due to the growing importance of the English community in the city of the Strait of Gibraltar, the British Consul in Tangier organized a donation campaign during the 1880s to build an Anglican church. The Alaouite Sultan Hassan I contributed to this campaign, granting a piece of land, part of which was allocated to the church, and the other part to establish an English cemetery. The Sultan of Morocco showed a remarkable interest in having this church built according to the general architectural characteristics of an Islamic prayer place, and for this purpose he sent workers and decorative craftsmen. The bell tower, with its square base, took the form of a minaret without a lamp dome (Al-Azri), and its four facades were covered with gypsum sculptures, in which the solid multi-lobed arches were mixed with the decoration of geometric interlacing. The entrance door, which takes the form of a broken arch, is painted only with lime, and is surmounted by a prominent frieze of wood covered with painted tiles. The naves inside are separated by double marble columns. The opening on the altar takes the form of a pendant necklace decorated with wreath braids, surmounted by a floral decoration surrounded by a band, where an inscription copied from the Bible in Kufic Arabic letters runs. The niche behind the altar was decorated with carved gypsum filigree, decorated with the Nasrid motto in Granada: “There is no victor but God.” The ceilings were covered with dyed wood, where the star plates intertwined.
Sample Text
Kamal Lakhdar "St. Andrew's Church" in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;32;ar
