Publication Date
2nd - 4th century AH / 8th - 10th century AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;2;ar
Library Location
Medina, Fez, Morocco
Date
2nd - 4th century AH / 8th - 10th century AD
Notes
Hundreds of noble families left Andalusia in the year 202 AH / 818 AD, and took refuge in Morocco to escape the successive operations of repression resulting from the unrest that Cordoba witnessed. So they landed on the right bank of Wadi Fez. These new residents quickly became involved in building the vast mosque that would bear their name. The original landmark was modest. In the 5th century AH / 11th century AD, the geographer Al-Bakri described a mosque “composed of seven naves and a small courtyard in which walnut trees and other trees were planted, and supplied with abundant water from a canal called Wadi Masmouda.” Since its founding in the year 245 AH / 859 AD, the mosque has undergone a number of successive restoration and expansion works. In the 4th century AH / 10th century AD, the Umayyads of Cordoba added a minaret to it, which has remained intact until the present time. This minaret was built on a square base, has a small height, and resembles that of its contemporary Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque. Later, Ubayd Allah, the Fatimid ruler of Fez, moved the Friday sermon from the Al-Ashaykh Mosque, the first mosque built on this bank, to the Andalusian Mosque. Upon the arrival of the Almohads, Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir (r. 600-604 AH/1203-1207 AD), who attached special importance to the city of Fez, ordered the construction of the huge gate with its fourteen steps overlooking the northern façade. This door, which is surmounted by two domes, one of carved gypsum and the other of cedar wood, is decorated with harmonious compositions of clay/tile and wood, which were probably restored during the Alawite period. The historian and great pioneer of Islamic art, researcher George Marcy, saw this mosque as one of the most magnificent large-scale productions in Maghreb art. Caliph Al-Nasser also equipped the mosque with a water cistern (which was fed by Wadi Masmouda), a fountain, and a pavilion for ablution, similar to that found in the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque. On the upper floor, a two-room apartment was built for the imam above the women’s prayer hall. Finally, the Marinids are credited with restoring some of the ceilings and buttresses, as well as the fountain on the northern facade of the building. All these arrangements made the Andalusian Mosque the second religious building in the city, and, like the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque, it included seven teaching chairs and two libraries.
Sample Text
Mohamed Mezzine “Andalusian Mosque” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;2;ar
