Al-Hamra Mosque
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The al-Hamra Mosque or Red Mosque (, ) is a
Marinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) a ...
-era mosque in
Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. It is a local
Friday mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...
located on the Grande Rue ("Great Street") of Fes el-Jdid, the palace-city founded by the Marinid rulers.


Historical background


Foundation

The mosque has never been precisely dated as it lacks any foundation inscription, but it is known to have been built in the Marinid period, almost certainly in the 14th century. Roger Le Tourneau suggested it was most likely built at the end of the 13th century or at the beginning of the 14th century. Henri Bresolette argued that the mosque must date from before 1323 because it is mentioned in a ''
waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
'' inscription from that year at the
Sahrij Madrasa Sahrij Madrasa or Madrasa al-Sahrij (sometimes also Sihrij Madrasa) () is a madrasa in Fez, Morocco. The madrasa is located inside Fes el Bali, the old medina quarter of the city. The madrasa dates back to the 14th century during the golden age of ...
.
Georges Marçais Georges Marçais ( Rennes, 11 March 1876 – Paris, 20 May 1962) was a French orientalist, historian, and scholar of Islamic art and architecture who specialized in the architecture of North Africa. Biography He initially trained as a painter ...
suggested, on the basis of its strong similarity to the
Sidi Boumediene Mosque Sidi Boumediene Mosque ( ar, مسجد شعيب أبو مدين) or the Worshipper's Mosque ( ar, مسجد العباد) is a historic Islamic religious complex In Tlemcen, Algeria, dedicated to the influential Sufi saint Abu Madyan. Abu Madyan was ...
in
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 ...
, that it was built by the same architect and under the same ruler as the latter, thus placing its foundation in the reign of Sultan Abu al-Hasan, between 1331 and 1348. Author Richard Parker gives the date as 1339 (but does not indicate what sources this is based on). Other dates suggested by more recent authors include the mid-14th century, during the reign of Sultan Abu Inan (1348–1358), and 1320, during the reign of Abu Sa'id Uthman. There is also an ablutions house (''mida'a''), a
hammam A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited f ...
, and a group of shops built together across the street are also associated with the mosque, although there have been no studies yet to clarify whether this complex was part of the original construction and design of the mosque.


Name

The mosque's name, ''jama' hamra'' or ''jama' al-hamra'', means either "Red Mosque" or "Mosque of the Red One". Since the form of the word ''hamra'' is grammatically feminine, Le Tourneau suggested that it refers to either a red
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 ...
or a red woman (both plausible and grammatically feminine words). Before it was renovated with added zellij decoration, the minaret's original colour may have been closer to a shade of red, which is one hypothesis. Boris Maslow reported that one legend attributes the mosque to an unidentified "Red Sultan", but that a more plausible legend attributes it to a "red woman" of the Banu Marin (Marinid) clan who came from the Tafilalt and devoted her fortune to building the mosque. In such a case, the mosque would also be known as the ''Jama' Lalla Hamra'' ("Mosque of the Red Woman"). Nevertheless, regardless of questions over the exact origin of the mosque, its similarities to other Marinid mosques of the era is clear.


Architecture


Overview

The mosque has a similar layout to the nearby Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid and other large Marinid mosques of the time. The mosque has a rectangular floor plan with a rectangular courtyard (''
sahn A ''sahn'' ( ar, صَحْن, '), is a courtyard in Islamic architecture, especially the formal courtyard of a mosque. Most traditional mosques have a large central ''sahn'', which is surrounded by a ''Riwaq (arcade), riwaq'' or arcade (architect ...
'') in its northern part, which is surrounded by
arcaded An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or Pier (architecture), piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians. The walkway may be lined with retail s ...
galleries on three sides and by the main prayer hall to the south. The minaret is located at the northwestern corner, overlooking the main street. The mosque has three entrances, one to the north on the building's central axis, and two more to the east and west at the courtyard's southern corners. The mosque has sloped wooden roofs, covered above by green tiles, typical of Moroccan mosques.


The courtyard (''sahn'')

The courtyard, surrounded by arched galleries, measures 11.3 by 13.7 metres. At its center is (or formerly was) a central fountain with a marble basin, while under the gallery on its southwestern corner is a wall fountain decorated with ''
zellij ''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 ...
'' mosaic tilework; both served to help with ablutions. A
sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
is found on one of the pillars on the northern arcade of the courtyard.


The prayer hall

Like most Moroccan mosques, the mosque's interior is a
hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or un ...
space with rows of Moorish arches running perpendicular to the southern ''
qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...
'' wall. Another row of arches runs close and parallel to the southern wall, forming a transverse nave or aisle in front of the ''
mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
'' and the qibla wall. The wooden ceilings of the prayer hall's naves are made in the Moroccan ''berchla'' style, with wooden frames and beams arranged to form geometric motifs. These date from the original Marinid construction. The square space directly in front of the mihrab is decorated with
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
-carved surfaces and is covered by a wood-frame dome forming a geometric star patterns and highlighted with painted decoration. The dome's transition to the square space below is formed by ''
muqarnas Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of I ...
'' carving. The mihrab itself consists of an alcove covered by a muqarnas
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...
behind a horseshoe arch, while the wall around the mihrab is covered in typical stucco-carved decoration with
arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...
,
calligraphic Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as ...
, and geometric motifs. Contrary to many other surviving Marinid mosques, the decoration of this mihrab, as well as the adjacent wooden cupola, appear to still date from the Marinid period. Three stucco-grilled windows are set in the wall above the mihrab, as is also common in other mosques. There is a door on either side of the mihrab; the right one leads to the storage room for the ''
minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...
'', while the left one leads to the
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 chamber and the ''jama' al-gnaiz'', a small oratory dedicated to funerary rites.


The minaret

The minaret has square base measuring 4.5 metres per side. The main shaft of the minaret is 19.2 metres tall, above which is a secondary mini-tower (2.5 metres per side and 4.6 metres high) topped by a small dome and a metal finial with spheres. The interior of the minaret is climbed via a long staircase which wraps around the square-based core of the tower, leading to a platform at the top of the main shaft. The only windows are found on the southern side of the minaret. The facades of the minaret are covered by typical Moroccan motifs. While they appear similar at a glance, each motif is slightly different, featuring a variation of the ''
darj wa ktaf ''Sebka'' () refers to a type of decorative motif used in western Islamic ("Moorish") architecture and Mudéjar architecture. History and description Various types of interlacing rhombus-like motifs are heavily featured on the surfaces of ...
'' (or ''sebka'') pattern. Along the bottom of each façade is a row of blind arches which blend into the motif above and are filled with mosaic (''zellij'') tilework. Around the top of the main shaft, above the main motifs, is a broad band of more ''zellij'' tilework with geometric patterns. Above this, the main tower is crowned by decorative
merlons A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...
, also covered in geometric tilework. Boris Maslow claimed that the southern and eastern sides of the minaret, as well as the secondary shaft at its summit, where damaged at some point and remade in modern times. The colourful ''zellij'' tilework which fills the empty spaces of the ''darj-wa-ktaf'' motifs in the middle of the minaret's façades was likely added in the late 18th or early 19th century, perhaps in the reign of Moulay Slimane when similar tile decoration was added to other Marinid minarets (e.g. the
Chrabliyine Mosque The Chrabliyine Mosque (; also transliterated as ''Shirabliyyin, Cherabliyine,'' etc.) is a Marinid-era mosque in Fez, Morocco. History The mosque was founded in the 14th century during the Marinid period. Although the exact date and patron of ...
and the Mosque of Abu al-Hasan).


See also

* Lists of mosques * List of mosques in Africa * List of mosques in Morocco


References

{{Mosques in Morocco Mosques in Fez, Morocco Marinid architecture 14th-century establishments in Morocco