Mechouar Mosque ( ar, مسجد المشور) is a historic mosque in the city of
Tlemcen
Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the por ...
,
Algeria
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, relig ...
. The mosque is a part of the historic
Mechouar Castle which has a significant place in the history of the
Kingdom of Tlemcen
The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen ( ar, الزيانيون) was a Berber kingdom in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached Sijilm ...
. The mosque contributed greatly to the intellectual development of Tlemcen. It was one of the main sights during the selection of Tlemcen as the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2011.
["قلعة المشور” .. معلمٌ تاريخيٌّ يروي فصولا من حكم ملوك تلمسان](_blank)
''Al-Watan''. Retrieved January 7, 2018.Capitals is Islamic Culture 2011
''ISESCO''. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
History
The mosque was built following the castle by Abu Hammu I
Musa ibn Abī Saʿīd ʿUt̲h̲mān ibn Yag̲h̲murāsan () (died 1318), known as Abu Hammu I, was the fourth Zayyanid Sultan of the Kingdom of Tlemcen. He was proclaimed on 21 '' S̲h̲awwāl'' 707/15 April 1308 after the death of his brother ...
in 1310. It played a substantial role for Islamic intellectual development in Tlemcen, and there generations of ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
s had taught and had been taught. It was renovated several times by the Turks. However, it was converted by the French into a church in 1840, and the original roof was stripped off at the same time. During the French occupation, Tlemcen and the mosque became a center for Christianity. Later the mosque was sacked and turned into a warehouse for the military hospital. The mosque only regained its original function after the independence of Algeria.[جامع ومئذنة المشور](_blank)
''Museum with no Frontiers''. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
Architecture
The mosque has no sahn and the minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
is the only part surviving in its original form. The minaret is square-shaped and covered with daylighting
Daylighting is the practice of placing windows, skylights, other openings, and Reflective surfaces (climate engineering), reflective surfaces so that sunlight (direct or indirect) can provide effective internal lighting. Particular attention is ...
. Four facades of the mosque are decorated with Zellige
''Zellij'' ( ar, الزليج, translit=zillīj; also spelled zillij or zellige) is a style of mosaic tilework made from individually hand-chiseled tile pieces. The pieces were typically of different colours and fitted together to form various pa ...
tiles and clays. The lower part of the minaret is covered with rectangular panel surrounded by Zellige squares with a metallic luster. The minaret is the only one decorated by Zellige in Tlemcen.
Gallery
File:مئذنة المشور.jpg, Close-up of the minaret
See also
* Lists of mosques
* List of mosques in Africa
* List of mosques in Algeria
* List of cultural assets of Algeria
List of cultural assets of Algeria includes monuments, natural sites and parks, and other cultural assets as classed by the Algerian Ministry of Culture. The Ministry's list was updated in September 2019 with 1,030 cultural assets across the count ...
References
Bibliography
* بورويبة، ' الفن الديني الإسلامي بالجزائر، الجزائر : SNED، 1983.
* ج. مارسي، ' الهندسة المعمارية للغرب الإسلامي'، تونس، الجزائر، المغرب و إسبانيا و صقلية.باريس : الفنون والحرف التصويرية، عام 1957.
* ج. مارصي.، فهرست ' الفن المعماري وتونس والجزائر والمغرب وأسبانيا وصقلية وباريس : أ بيكار، 1926.
* ج. مارصي. الآثار العربية تلمسان، باريس : أ. فونتموانغ، 1905.
* بارجس، تلمسان العاصمة القديمة لمملكة ذات نفس الاسم. باريس : دوبراة، 1859.
{{Mosques in Algeria
14th-century mosques
Mosques in Tlemcen
Zayyanid architecture