Publication Date
AH 10th / AD 16th century
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;15;ar
Library Location
Marrakesh, Morocco
Date
AH 10th / AD 16th century
Notes
This madrasa is considered one of the largest madrasas in the Maghreb, and owes its name to its proximity to the mosque next to it, which was built by the Almoravid Sultan, Prince Ali Ibn Yusuf (reigned in the period 500-537 AH / 1106-1142 AD). It is possible that the construction of the madrasa took place on the site of an ancient Almoravid or Almohad madrasa. The Ifrani historian, for his part, confirms that it replaced a school built by the Marinid Sultan Abu al-Hasan (ruled in the period 731-749 AH / 1331-1348 AD). The building, built on two levels, takes the form of a quadrilateral, with a width slightly greater than its depth (approximately 40 meters and 43 metres). A long corridor with an openwork roof leads to a square hall that connects, from the back, to Stairs leading to the first floor, from the sides to corridors leading to the student rooms, and from the front to a courtyard that in turn leads to the prayer hall. In the middle of the spacious, marble-tiled courtyard is a large cistern. Its side sides were surrounded by arcades supported by huge pillars, and its roof rested on wooden lintels on base boards. The walls were covered with panels of multi-colored tile, at a height of approximately 1.2 metres, topped with a band of grooved tile that reproduces inscriptions carved in Moroccan letters. The interior walls of the floor, as well as the capitals of the pillars, were completely covered with gypsum carved in shapes. The vase. Under the painted tiled roof, there is a frieze over supports, baseboards, and cantilevered wooden supports. The ground floor, like the first floor, contains 51 small rooms, grouped around 13 small courtyards, and a house for ablution (ablution). All ceilings in the foyer, hallway, prayer hall, and rooms were covered with wood. The prayer hall opens with a central door and two small side doors, and is divided into three spaces, by two rows of columns, the middle part of which takes a square shape covered by a pyramidal roof. Although the Ibn Yusuf Madrasah borrows much from the Marinid architectural and decorative artistic record, it incorporates decorative elements that were inspired by Ottoman art, especially on wood. And marble. Its exceptional standards respond to a special Saadian concern, which is represented by the splendor that, for the majority of the sultans of this dynasty, replaced the power of previous states.
Sample Text
Kamal Lakhdar “Ibn Yusuf School” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;15;ar
