Kairouan, also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan, is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya ; this is when it became an important centre for Sunni Islamic scholarship and Quranic learning, attracting Muslims from various parts of the world. The Mosque of Uqba is situated in the city.
Ifriqiya, also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna, was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania. It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of Africa Proconsularis and extended beyond it, but did not include the Mauretanias.
The Aghlabids were an Arab dynasty from the tribe of Banu Tamim, who ruled Ifriqiya and parts of Southern Italy, Sicily, and possibly Sardinia, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a century, until they were overthrown by the new power of the Fatimids.
Tripolitania, historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya.
The Hafsids were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descent who ruled Ifriqiya from 1229 to 1574.
Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located 270 km (170 mi) southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Berber Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate, and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a population of 330,440. Its main industries include phosphate, olive and nut processing, fishing and international trade. The city is the second-most populous in the country after the capital, Tunis.
Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture which developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Scholarly references on Islamic architecture often refer to this architectural tradition by a more geographic designation, such as architecture of the Islamic West or architecture of the Western Islamic lands. The use of the term "Moorish" comes from the historical Western European designation of the Muslim inhabitants of these regions as "Moors". Some references on Islamic art and architecture consider this term to be outdated or contested.
Al-Zaytuna Mosque, also known as Ez-Zitouna Mosque, and El-Zituna Mosque, is a major mosque at the center of the Medina of Tunis in Tunis, Tunisia. The mosque is the oldest in the city and covers an area of 5,000 square metres with nine entrances. It was founded at the end of the 7th century or in the early 8th century, but its current architectural form dates from a reconstruction in the 9th century, including many antique columns reused from Carthage, and from later additions and restorations over the centuries. The mosque is known to host one of the first and greatest universities in the history of Islam. Many Muslim scholars were graduated from the Al-Zaytuna for over a thousand years. Ibn 'Arafa, one of the greatest scholars of Islam, Imam Maziri, the great traditionalist and jurist, and the famous Tunisian poet Aboul-Qacem Echebbi, all taught there, among others.
The Medina of Tunis is the medina quarter of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
Kasbah Mosque is a mosque in Tunis, Tunisia. It is a listed as a Historical Monument.
The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen was a kingdom ruled by the Berber Zayyanid dynasty in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached Sijilmasa and the Moulouya River in the west, Tuat to the south and the Soummam in the east.
The Sfax medina is the medina quarter of the Tunisian city of Sfax. It was built by Aghlabid prince Abu Abbass Muhammad between 849 and 851. The medina is home to about 113,000 residents, and is dominated by the Great Mosque of Sfax.
The Great Mosque of Sousse is a historical mosque in the coastal city of Sousse, Tunisia. The construction dates back to 851, during the rule of the Aghlabid dynasty, vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. It was commissioned by the ruler Abu al-‘Abbas Muhammad al-Aghlabi. It is a major monument of Aghlabid architecture in the early Islamic period. The mosque was renovated and its prayer hall expanded multiple times over the following centuries.
The Great Mosque of Sfax was the most important mosque in the old city of Sfax, Tunisia. It was initially built towards the mid-9th century under the rule of the Aghlabid dynasty, a vassal state of the Abbasid Caliphate. The mosque was the urban and religious heart of the city and it underwent several major modifications in later periods. Architecturally, it is notable for its minaret and its unusually decorated eastern façade.
Bab Jebli is one of the gates of the medina of Sfax, located in the center of the northern facade of its walls between Bab Nahj El Bey and Bab Jebli Jedid. The gate gives access to a popular vegetables market and Sidi Bouchaicha Mosque inside the medina, and to a covered market in its outside.
The Mosque of the Three Doors or Mosque of Muhammad ibn Khairun is a mosque In the city of Kairouan, Tunisia. Commissioned in 866, during the Aghlabid dynasty period, by Muhammad ibn Khairun, a private local patron. The mosque is notable for being one of the earliest occurrences of a richly decorated external façade in Islamic architecture. The mosque was modified in later periods, notably with the addition of a minaret in 1440, during the Hafsid period.
Ribat of Sousse is a ribat in the city of Sousse, Tunisia. Although scholars differ on the chronology of its original construction, it was most likely founded in the 8th century and reconstructed or completed in its current form during the early 9th century, under the Aghlabid dynasty. Although a large number of ribats were built in the region during that period, the Ribat of Sousse is by far the best-preserved.
The architecture of Tunisia began with the ancient civilizations such as the Carthaginians, Numidians, and Romans. After the 7th century, Islamic architecture developed in the region under a succession of dynasties and empires. In the late 19th century French colonial rule introduced European architecture, and modern architecture became common in the second half of the 20th century. The southern regions of the country are also home to diverse examples of local vernacular architecture used by the Berber (Amazigh) population.
Hafsid architecture developed under the patronage of the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiya during the 13th to 16th centuries. Evolving from earlier Almohad and Ifriqiyan traditions, it was later influenced further by Mamluk architecture of Egypt and Syria and it increasingly deviated from the style of Moorish architecture in al-Andalus and the western Maghreb. After Hafsid rule ended, the trends of this architectural style continued to develop and characterize Tunisian architecture during the following Ottoman period.
Aghlabid architecture dates to the rule of the Aghlabid dynasty in Ifriqiya during the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century. The dynasty ruled nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliphs, with which they shared many political and cultural connections. Their architecture was heavily influenced by older antique architecture in the region as well as by contemporary Abbasid architecture in the east. The Aghlabid period is also distinguished by a relatively large number of monuments that have survived to the present day, a situation unusual for early Islamic architecture. One of the most important monuments of this period, the Great Mosque of Kairouan, was a model for mosque architecture in the region. It features one of the oldest minarets and contains one of the oldest surviving mihrabs in Islamic architecture.
