The Great Mosque of Kairouan

The Great Mosque of Kairouan is in Kairouan. Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi established it in 670 CE.

Massive ocher walls enclose the building. They measure 1.90 metres thick and use stones, rubble and baked bricks.

A square minaret rises on the north side. Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke called this three-storey tower a masterpiece.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan covers a vast area.

The trapezoidal courtyard measures 67 by 52 metres. Its porticoes feature columns reused from Roman, Christian and Byzantine monuments.

A horizontal sundial sits near the courtyard's centre. The marble dial bears an inscription dating from 1843.

Bab Lalla Rihana opened in the eastern wall in 1293. This entrance features horseshoe arches on ancient marble columns.

Extensive Aghlabid works in the ninth century shaped the mosque. It remains one of Islam's oldest places of worship.