This article lists some but by no means all of the oldest known

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 ...

towers in the world. The oldest minaret still surviving is that of the

Great Mosque of Kairouan The Great Mosque of Kairouan ( ar, جامع القيروان الأكبر), also known as the Mosque of Uqba (), is a mosque situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan, Tunisia and is one of the most impressive and largest Islamic mo ...

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

.Titus Burckhardt, ''Art of Islam, Language and Meaning: Commemorative Edition''. World Wisdom. 2009. p. 128
/ref> It was constructed in 836 AD and is considered as the prototype for all the square shaped minarets built in the Western Muslim World. Most ancient, surviving minarets were constructed adjacent to 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, ...

, for the Muslim call to prayer (

Adhan Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mos ...

) five times each day by a

muezzin The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important r ...

(crier). A few minarets were built as watchtowers, landmarks or symbols of victory or glory of a Muslim

Khanate A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. Mong ...

or empire. In some instances, like the

Minaret of Jam The Minaret of Jam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in western Afghanistan. It is located in a remote and nearly inaccessible region of the Shahrak District, Ghor Province, next to the Hari River. The or high minaret was built around 1190 entire ...

only the minaret tower survives today while the adjoining mosques and other structures were destroyed over time by nature and invaders.

List of oldest minarets

This list ranks the oldest surviving minarets in the world. Only minarets built before 1900 AD. are included.

References

{{Religion-related lists of superlative buildings * * Religion-related lists of superlatives Mosques, oldest Mosques, oldest *minarets

List of oldest minarets

See also

References