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Existing Koutoubia Mosque
The existing Koutoubia Mosque was built by Abdel Mumin in 1162, soon
after the building of the first mosque. The minaret is 12,5 meters wide
and 67,5 meters to the tip of the cupola on the lantern, and is the
mosque's principal feature, rightly ranked along with later Almohad
structure, the Hassan tower in Rabat and the Giralda in Sevilla. The
minaret, a great feat of engeneering in its day, was to influence subsequent
buildings in Morocco. It is fully eluminated on friday, the muslim holy
day.
The minaret is composed of six rooms, one on top of the other. The cupola
on top of the minaret is a symmetrical, square structure topped by a
ribbed dome and three golden orbs. These are alleged to have been made
from the melted down jewellery of Yaqub Al mansour's wife, in penence
for having eaten three grapes during Ramadan. The cupola has three windows
on each side, above which is a stone pannel in Darj w ktaf 'step and
shoulder' motif. The main tower has a band of colored tiles at the top.
The Koutoubia, a vast structure for its day had to be a mosque equal
to western caliphate. It is held to be the high point of Almohad art,
a cathedral-mosque of classic simplicity. It is here that the innovations
of the Hispano-Morish art - stalactite coupolas, painted wooden ceilings
- reach perfection. There are perspectives of horseshoe arches, no doubt
an aid to contemplation (although the prayer hall is off limit to the
non-muslim visitor, an idea of what it is like can be gained at the
Tin Mal mosque in the High Atlas). The unique minbar (preacher's chair)
set against this apparent simplicity, is all decoration and variety
- and very much in keeping with the elaorate taste of Ummayad Spain.
(The minbar also recently restored, can be veiwed at the Badi Palace).
Both prayer hall and chair were to be a source of inspiration for later
generations of builders and decorators.
Ultimately, the Koutoubia is striking because it is the work of one
ruler Abdel-Mumin. Comparable buildings in western Islam -the great
mosque of Gordoba and the Alhamra- were built over a couple of centuries.
Behind the mosque, on rue Sidi Mimoun, is a small tomb to the Almoravid
Sultan Youssef Ben Tachfine, the founder of Marrakech.
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