The Great Mosque of Tlemcen

      The beginning of the 11th century marked a period of prosperity for Tlemcen, whose beautiful monuments, especially its mosques, are masterpieces of Islamic art. This great mosque (1135–1138) is a clear example of Maghrebian architecture. The widest of all the parallel naves, the central one, is accessible through a large gate whose matchless beauty shows the way to the sanctuary. At Mansurah, close to Tlemcen, the mihrab forms a kind of small tower. Inside the mosque is a sanctuary even more precisely highlighted than in the mosque at Córdoba. The minarets of both mosques are on a square plan. To this present day, every Maghrebian mosque is equipped with parallel naves, with a central nave, a richly ornamented porch, a turret-like mihrab and a minaret on a square plan.

      The minarets are decorated with a sort of network which is logical given that the goal was to make the wall lighter and firm at the same time using this rigid brick decoration. These bricks are often glazed in order to create a delicate effect. It is quite likely that these glazed ceramic bricks are of Mesopotamian and Persian origin. The ornamentation of the Momine Khatun Mausoleum in Nakhchivan (1186) has some similarities with the one in Zaragoza). As soon as the Maghrebians discovered the manufacturing of glazed ceramics, they replaced the porphyry, granite and marble they had used for paving and casing with this bright and economic material. With regard to faience mosaics, each piece was manually cut into tiles and then filed or moulded into shape and adapted to its neighbour, following a section tilted toward the exposed face in such a way as to ensure the joint is firm; this technique is still used in Fez. It was only later that ceramists, following a slightly coarser technique, moulded the different pieces to be assembled, or better still, added lines or reliefs to the tiles to show their polygonal harmony.

      The toothing of the arches in the Great Mosque of Tlemcen shows the extent of lavishness that characterised Islamic architecture. These indentations could be imitations of some forms of wooden architecture that may be understood better if one studies the consoles of great Arab canopies in the Alcázar in Seville or some monuments in Marrakech, Meknes and Fez. In my opinion, these indentations – especially those that are small and regular – are the result of using bricks in construction. Indeed, it is preferable for brick arches to have intersecting joints, and it is important to coat them by reducing the intervals that exist between the longest and the shortest bricks found in the intrados of the arch.

      The mihrab of this mosque is an architectural masterpiece. Its rectangular framework suits the alternatively smooth and sculpted arch whose archivolt is beautifully silhouetted in successive lobes. The dome surmounting it is beautifully decorated with pierced shapes.

      The building of such monuments also flourished during this period in Spain and Morocco under the guidance of Almoravid and Almohad rulers, who had united these two countries under their power. This was presumably a classical era. The relatively severe decoration and the simple and vigorous plans comprise the major features of a layout with excellent proportions.

      Prayer hall in the Great Mosque of Córdoba, 785–988.

      Córdoba.

      The Giralda (1195)

      The Great Mosque of Seville was constructed between 1171 and 1172. Its extant minaret is the famous Giralda, erected by Yacoub El Mansour, who expanded the mosque from 1195 to 1197 while constructing numerous monuments in Morocco and in Andalusia. The entire Arab section (the crown dates from the Renaissance) is made of bricks, and the decoration, initially very simple, becomes more sophisticated as you it ascends. On the second floor from the top, which is occupied by a mesh of intersecting arcades in the other minarets, there are three long, vertical bands. The middle one has four-level ajouré [open-work] windows, while the other two are covered with strapwork broken by just two series of blind arcades.

      The Great Mosque of Córdoba

      The construction of the Great Mosque at Córdoba was begun in 785 by the first caliph of Spain, Abd-ar-Rahman. Hicham I completed it by extending its naves to the south between 793 and 796. Hakam II and Hakam III further extended it in 961–962 and 988–1001 respectively.

      Córdoba’s Great Mosque has parallel naves with a larger central nave that leads to the mihrab. This mosque is architecturally different from the one in Kairouan. The influence of ancient and indigenous monuments was stronger here than in Tunisia. The Byzantine influence here is visible only in the decoration of the mihrab. Here, there are no massive minarets like those in Kairouan and Tunis, neither are there slender minarets like those in Susa, nor domes with cupolas like those in Kairouan. The same is true of the ornamentation. In Spain, Islamic decoration took an excessive turn that would remain a permanent feature of the artistic tradition.

      The traditional plan of the mosque initially comprised eleven naves with columns, with a larger central nave that led to the mihrab. Hicham I extended it to the south; Hakam II added twelve naves to it; and Hakam III added eight, separated by seven rows of thirty-three columns, giving it its current dimensions. Short columns raised by arches that brace and support each other function as a beautiful solution to spatial limits: they make it possible to increase the height of the naves with minimal materials.

      The mosque was decorated with ceilings placed under nets of parallel roof framings whose walls have gutters following a pattern widely used in the Maghreb. These worm-eaten roof framings were later replaced by light arches, except in the parts where the ancient ceilings were renovated.

      Its dome frame is a replica of the neighbouring bay in the axis of the central nave, which is made of stone. Strikingly, the springing of the arches are supported by lion-shaped corbels. The stalactites visible above the multi-foil arch are in many ways similar to those which, in the Alcázar in Seville, are designed in the 15th-century Mudéjar style. The mosque’s minbar (Silla del Hey Almansor), which was pulled on four wheels like the Maliki minbars in Tunisia and Algeria, was stunning in both its material makeup and its design. Its construction, ordered by Hakem, began in 1236 and lasted nine years. It was destroyed in 1572.

      Cupola of the mihrab in the Great Mosque of Córdoba, 971–976.

      Córdoba.

      Mihrab hall, the Great Mosque of Córdoba, 961–966.

      Córdoba.

      Court of the Lions, Alhambra, late 15th century.

      Granada.

      The Alhambra

      Despite the frequent restoration and damage it has experienced, the Alhambra is still the most remarkable Islamic monument of the 14th and 15th centuries.

      This palace is built on a long hill overlooking Granada. Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, destroyed a weak part of it to construct a palace in his taste. Despite these damages, it remains an attractive structure exuding elegance and luxury.

      The creation of the thick walls

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