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The Shamma'iya Madrasa ( ar, مدرسة الشماعية, translit=Madrasa ash-Shamma'iya) is a historic
From the street, a staircase climbs to the entrance where a bent passage leads to a central square courtyard. Across the courtyard, opposite the entrance, is a small vaulted prayer hall. In the middle of the other two sides of the courtyard are vaulted rooms, entered through large arches, which were probably classrooms. A second floor exists, with a gallery around the courtyard leading to 19 small bedrooms for students. A second, larger prayer hall is also found on the upper floor, directly above the ground floor prayer hall. The layout, in which the entrance and major rooms of the ground floor are aligned symmetrically with the two central axes of the building, may have been inspired by the layout of madrasas in Egypt or further east. It also resembles the layout of traditional houses in the medina of Tunis, and the building may have been a former house that was remodeled and repurposed into a madrasa. Due to its later renovations, none of the madrasa's original decoration, if it had any, has survived.
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
of the Medina of Tunis
The Medina of Tunis is the medina quarter of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from ...
.
Location
It is located in Al Madrasa Ech Chamaiya alley near souk Echammaine, which later became Souk El Blaghgia.History
The Shamma'iya Madrasa was the first madrasa to be built in the wholeMaghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
region between 1236 and 1249, following the orders of the first Hafsid
The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (western ...
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
Abu Zakariya Yahya
Abu Zakariya Yahya (, Abu Zakariya Yahya I ben Abd al-Wahid (12031249) was the founder and first sultan of the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiya. He was the grandson of Sheikh Abu al-Hafs, the leader of the Hintata and second in command of the Almohads ...
. Ali ibn Mohamed ibn al-Kacem was the one in charge of follow the construction works.
The madrasa had a very important role in the society. Most of its students later became imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
s of Al-Zaytuna Mosque
Al-Zaytuna Mosque, also known as Ez-Zitouna Mosque, and El-Zituna Mosque ( ar, جامع الزيتونة, literally meaning ''the Mosque of Olive''), is a major mosque at the center of the Medina of Tunis in Tunis, Tunisia. The mosque is the o ...
.Mohamed Béji Ben Mami, Monuments de la médina de Tunis à travers les âges
The madrasa was renovated in later periods. It was restored by Shaykh Abu al-Rayth al-Kashash in the 17th century, and its current form is the result of a restoration ordered by Ahmed Khuja, who was Dey of Tunis between 1640 and 1647.
Architecture
From the street, a staircase climbs to the entrance where a bent passage leads to a central square courtyard. Across the courtyard, opposite the entrance, is a small vaulted prayer hall. In the middle of the other two sides of the courtyard are vaulted rooms, entered through large arches, which were probably classrooms. A second floor exists, with a gallery around the courtyard leading to 19 small bedrooms for students. A second, larger prayer hall is also found on the upper floor, directly above the ground floor prayer hall. The layout, in which the entrance and major rooms of the ground floor are aligned symmetrically with the two central axes of the building, may have been inspired by the layout of madrasas in Egypt or further east. It also resembles the layout of traditional houses in the medina of Tunis, and the building may have been a former house that was remodeled and repurposed into a madrasa. Due to its later renovations, none of the madrasa's original decoration, if it had any, has survived.
Current situation
The madrasa was restored in the nineties and became a training center for leather and shoe artisans.Notes
References
{{Coord missing, Tunisia Madrasas in the medina of Tunis