Mosque Name: Kasbah Citadel Mosque, also known as The Mosque of the Kasbah, and also The Old Mosque.
Country: Morocco
City: Rabat
Year of construction (AH): 544
Year of construction (AD): 1150
GPS: 34.032106 -6.836129
ArchNet: http://archnet.org/sites/17291
Gibson Classification: Parallel
Rebuilt facing Mecca: never
For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here
Description:
The Old Mosque (Mosque of the Kasbah) is the oldest current structure at the site of the Kasbah in the citadel of Rabat is its main mosque, known as Jama’ al-‘Atiqa (“Old Mosque”). Dating from Abd al-Mu’min’s construction in 1150, it was largely restored in the 18th century, during the reign of Sultan Mohammed bin Abdallah, by an English corsair known as Ahmed el-Inglizi. The minaret dates from this later restoration.
One unusual feature of the mosque’s layout is the fact that the minaret stood separate from the rest of the mosque and behind the qibla (southeastern) wall, and was only connected to the mosque in 1940. The minaret is made of stone and has a square shaft measuring about 4.55 meters to one side. The prayer hall of this mosque consists of seven naves and three bays. The wider axial nave and the span running along the wall of the qibla form the T-shaped plan that is characteristic of Almohad architecture.
A modern marble plaque on the facade indicates was built by Al-Moumen bin Ali 544 AH. It also states that the mihrab was oriented towards the north in keeping with the Almohad theory that interpreted a Hadith as saying there is another qibla between the Mashriq and the Maghreb. The only decoration on the mihrab was an inscription of a Qur’an verse (15:98-99): So exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord and be of those who prostrate [to Him]. And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (of death).
The mosque is center right, and the graveyard is center left. Note the citadel walls, and that the graveyard is half way up the side of the citadel.
Inside the mosque
The plaque explaining when the mosque was built
The mihrab
The graveyard outside the city wall.
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