La Koutoubia mosquée -Marrakech-

Koutoubia mosque is a masterpiece of architectural hispanomauresques influences.

Name of the mosque  :   Koutoubia Mosque

Instead of the mosque  Marrakech

Year of construction  1120

 Date Redesign  : from 1162 during the reign of the Almohad emir Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur.Il finished the work with a superb minaret, architectural masterpiece of Spanish-Moorish influences.

History of the mosque  : The Koutoubia mosque or mosque bookshops , was started under the Berber Almoravid dynasty. The mosque became one of the buildings most features of this style . Its name comes from the fact that it was in the souk merchants manuscripts.

Manufacturer  : Abdelmoumen, the first ruler of the Almohad dynasty mosque erected in the twelfth century. His grand-son Yacoub El Mansour

Special features: The mosque booksellers is organized on a plan t . This tradition has existed since the construction of the Mosque of Kairouan in IX  century, and is also found in Spain . This is actually a pillared Arab plan, that is to say with a large courtyard surrounded by a portico and a prayer hall with columns. The aisles are perpendicular to the qibla wall, the center is wider; and the span along the qibla wall is also magnified, which forms a T, hence the name. The mihrab is treated as a deep niche, and the minaret, 69 m high, has a square section, in the tradition of the Muslim West.

The mosque holds a fine booksellers minbar dating from 1137, is in Cordoba for another mosque. Like most of those in the West, it is mobile ( on wheels ), composed of different woods but ivory. The bill decor, extremely fine, in postponements have taken seven years. It features including arches glued to each other that mark the footboards and a taste for polychromy is notable.

At the top of the minaret, there are three stacked balls with diameter decreases symbolize Earth, Water and Fire.