Agadez Mosque ( ar, مسجد أغاديز) is a prominent

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

Agadez Agadez ( Air Tamajeq: ⴰⴶⴰⴷⴰⵣ, ''Agadaz''), formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also ...

Tchirozerine Department Tchirozerine is a department of the Agadez Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Tchirozerine. As of 2011, the department had a total population of 328,018 people. It is divided administratively into the following communes: *Communes ...

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and is the tallest mud-brick structure in the world. The Agadez mosque is the most prominent religious center located in the central part of the Republic of the Niger, and has been a place of worship for centuries.

History

The

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

was built in 1515 at the time when the city was captured by the

Songhai Empire The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel/Sudan in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical ...

. It was restored and some of it was rebuilt in 1844. This

was built by Imam Bakhili, a famous Muslim scholar, who originated from the

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region. Legend has it that he built this

in a single night between

Isha prayer The Isha prayer ( ar, صلاة العشاء ', "night prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Isha prayer is technically the second prayer of the day. If counted from midnight, it is t ...

and dawn. Due to the mosque bearing some resemblance to the construction techniques used in structures around

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

, it is believed that the

Tuareg people The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Al ...

went there in order to learn and develop even better the

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

techniques for the construction of the mosque. By using local available materials, which were dried in the sun, the builders created a long-lasting durable structure. The central

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

is accompanied by a minaret which is some 27 meters (89 feet) tall, making it the tallest ever constructed of mud brick. The mosque serves as a compass for the people to get around the city, andat one point of time throughout its history, served as a watchtower. This dominating structure in

is a beacon of the long running history of the city that has survived the harsh

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

environment, and shall continue to invite visitors in order to be mesmerized by the beauty it shines on the strong sun.https://www.alluringworld.com/agadez-mosque/

mosque it was Built 700 hundred year's ago from

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

,hosts thousands of Muslims for Friday's prayers, every year

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

travel long distance to visit tourism's and spiritual purposes.

References

Religious buildings and structures completed in 1515 Mosques in Niger Sudano-Sahelian architecture">Sahelian.html" ;"title="Sudano-Sahelian">Sudano-Sahelian architectureMosques by country">Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages

History

See also

References