Ksar Mosque or Jemaâ Al Ksar ( ar, جامع القصر), also of the

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools (maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named afte ...

rite, is a

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, in ...

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

History

Located in front of

Dar Hussein Dar Hussein ( ar, دارحسين), is an old palace in the medina of Tunis. Localization It is located in 4 the castle's place in Bab Mnara district. History This palace was the house of many princes, deys and beys for centuries. Each on ...

(Bab Menara), it was built in the early 12th century. It was a royal mosque, probably built during the reign of Ahmed Ibn Kourassane (1100–1128). Around 1598, it was attached to the

by the Turkish conquerors. Ksar Mosque, 1913.jpg, Ksar Mosque in 1913

Structure

The

has had a lot of building work and renovation. The minaret was rebuilt in 1647/48, and decorated with

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

and

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

glazed in a Moorish style, and its eastern facade is decorated with big bows and horseshoes in the Fatimid style. Access to the

is through a door under a covered walkway that opens into a courtyard elevated above the prayer hall. It is surrounded by a portico with columns and capitals such as Turkish Prayer Hall which is topped by arches supported by ancient columns and capitals. At the back of the hall, the mihrab, of remarkable size, is semicircular with seven niches separated by pilasters. It is surmounted by a Fatimid style fluted half-dome. Mosquée El Ksar 113.jpg, El Ksar's mosque Mihrab Mosquée El Ksar 6.JPG, El Ksar mosque's facade Mosquée El Ksar 1.JPG, Mosque El Ksar's minaret Mosquée El Ksar 2.JPG, The mosque's arches Mosquée El Ksar 114.jpg, Detail of the wall Mosquée El Ksar 4.JPG, Building inscription on the minaret

References

Bibliography

* Mohamed Masmoudi et Jamila Binous, ''Tunis. La ville et les monuments'', Tunis, Cérès Productions, 1980, p. 80–81 Mosques in the medina of Tunis 12th-century mosques Religious buildings and structures completed in 1648 {{Tunisia-mosque-stub