Youssef Dey Mosque, also known as Al B'chamqiya, is a 17th-century

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, located in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

area of the city. The mosque is considered significant as it was the first Ottoman mosque to be built in Tunis. An official Historical Monument, it operated primarily as public speaking venue before becoming a real mosque by Youssef Dey in 1631. At the time it was the 11th mosque to be built in the capital. In the late nineteenth century it underwent extensive restoration, ordered by Ali Bey. A decree in 1926 saw the mosque become an annex of the

University of Ez-Zitouna Ez-Zitouna University (, ) is an Ancient higher-learning institutions, ancient public university in Tunis, Tunisia. The university originated in the Al-Zaytuna Mosque, founded at the end of the 7th or in the early 8th century, which developed into ...

. Minaret, mosquée Youssef Dey.jpg, Minaret De moskee Becquia in Tunis.jpg, Beginning of the 20th century File:Street of Tunis in 1908.JPG, Youssef Dey Mosque in 1908 File:La medina Tunis.JPG, External view Tunisia332.jpg, Internal view Tunisia335.jpg, Mosque courtyard

Hall of prayer

The prayer room is framed by courtyards on three sides to the east, north and west. Along the northern facade, a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

plays the role of gallery-narthex. Rectangular in plan, the room perpetuates the classical plan of the hypostyle hall; it consists of nine

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s and seven bays. The arches rest on columns, of various origins, which carry capitals of

Hafsid The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

type, except some ancient examples. The covering of the prayer hall is in groin vault; a cupola on an octagonal base and horns in front of the

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', 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'' wall". ...

.Youssef Dey Mosque (Museum without Borders)
/ref> Near the latter is the masonry

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 ...

covered with panels of polychrome

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

; this is a novelty by contribution to mosques of

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

s whose minbar is executed in wood. Mosquée de Youssef Day, Tunis 21 septembre 2013, (05).jpg, Detail of one of the doors of the mosque. Mosquée Youssef Dey 12.jpg, Interior view of the prayer hall. At the bottom is the mihrab.

Minaret

Its

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

is the first octagonal minaret to be built in Tunis and was made by the

s. The octagonal tower rises above a square base. It ends with a balcony protected by a wooden awning, the whole is crowned by a

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

with pyramidal roof covered with green tiles. Mosquée de Youssef Day, Tunis 21 septembre 2013, (10).jpg, View of the minaret. Mosquée de Youssef Day, Tunis 21 septembre 2013, (09).jpg, View of the upper part of the minaret.

Mausoleum

The mosque also includes the mausoleum of Youssef Dey, inaugurating in Tunis the funeral mosque in which the tomb of the founder associates with the place of worship. Square plan, the mausoleum is covered with a pyramidal roof covered with green tiles. It has on each face a large central blind arcade, flanked by two levels of recesses in flat bottom. The facings of the white marble facades are accented with clavellus alternating black and white. A commemorative inscription on the central arch provides the date of construction of the mausoleum. Mausolée Sidi Youssef, Tunis, 21 septembre 2013, (02).jpg, View of the mausoleum closing the burials of Youssef Dey and his family. Tunisia334.jpg, A mausoleum door, topped by a commemorative inscription. File:Sur les toits de la Médina.JPG,

References

{{Medina of Tunis Mosques Mosques in the medina of Tunis Mosques completed in the 1630s Religious buildings and structures completed in 1631 17th-century mosques in the Ottoman Empire 1631 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1631 establishments in Africa Ottoman architecture in Tunisia