Great Mosque of Kairouan

Meaning

Midday light shatters across the wide marble courtyard, and across it rises the oldest minaret in the world, a tower of desert-colored stone. Step into the shade of the arcaded portico and the cool breath of thirteen centuries of prayer moves over you.

Tradition holds that Uqba ibn Nafi founded this mosque in 670, the oldest and most important in the Maghreb. Famed for the world's oldest minaret and a prayer hall of ancient columns standing like a forest, it is understood as the model for later mosques of North Africa and al-Andalus. Kairouan is counted among Islam's holy cities. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Field notes

Location

Kairouan · Tunisia · N35.7° · E10.1°

Best time

A clear morning, when light fills the courtyard

Getting there

Within the old medina of Kairouan, Tunisia.

Etiquette

A living place of prayer; dress modestly, keep quiet, and follow the rules for entering the prayer hall.

Sources

• · UNESCO World Heritage
• · Encyclopaedia Britannica

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