Hassan Tower
| Hassan Tower | |
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UNESCO world heritage 
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Hassan Tower. In the foreground remains of the outer walls of the mosque |
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| National territory: |
 Morocco
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| Type: | Culture |
| Criteria : | (ii) (iv) |
| Reference No .: | 1401 |
| UNESCO region : | Africa |
| History of enrollment | |
| Enrollment: | 2012 (session 35) |
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The Hassan Tower (French tour hassan ; Arabic صومعة حسان, DMG ṣaumaʿat Ḥassān ) is the unfinished minaret of the also unfinished Great Mosque in the Moroccan capital Rabat .
history
Work on building the mosque began under the Almohad ruler Yaʿqūb al-Mansūr towards the end of the 12th century; after his death (1199) the construction work was stopped forever. The Almohad Empire, which encompassed large parts of the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, disintegrated and the city of Rabat quickly lost its importance, which it only regained during the French colonial period and after the independence of Morocco (1956).
architecture
Mosque construction
The external building, made of rammed earth , is approximately 180 × 139 meters larger than all other mosques in the Maghreb - larger than the Mezquita of Córdoba (approximately 175 × 128 meters). The mosque was very likely - based on the most important mosques of the Islamic West ( Córdoba , Kairouan ) - designed as a pillar mosque , although the more than 300 stone pillars - in the absence of the ancient monolithic spolia used earlier - from parts (column drums with overlying fighting plates ) are composed. Three comparatively large open courtyards were planned to light and ventilate the large mosque area, but the largest area by far was to be roofed and used as a prayer hall for around 50,000 believers. The central nave is slightly wider than the side aisles; instead of a single transept in front of the qibla wall - as is generally the case - three were planned.
minaret
The minaret made of house stones with its ramps inside rises exactly opposite the planned mihrab niche - an exception among the Moroccan mosques, where a corner placement of the minaret can usually be observed. In view of the basic dimensions of almost 16 × 16 meters, the total height of the minaret should be over 80 meters - but its current height is only 44 meters. As with all early Maghreb minarets, the lower part of the tower shaft is undecorated; the middle area shows differently designed blind arches , which - unlike the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech - are arranged at the same height. The upper area should be completely and uniformly covered with a potentially infinite diamond pattern, which develops from incessantly overlapping arcs that rest on small pillars. It was not until the minaret of the Kasbah Mosque in Marrakech that a completely uniform ornamental design of the tower was realized.
meaning
The dimensions of the Great Mosque of Rabat would have clearly surpassed all other mosques in the Maghreb - a clear sign of the Almohads' claim to great power during their heyday. The huge complex is now the symbol of the city of Rabat and a popular destination for many Moroccans and tourists.
To the east of the mosque complex, the mausoleum for Mohammed V (1956–1961), the first king of Morocco after the end of the colonial period, was planned and built by the Vietnamese architect Vo Tuan in the 1960s . His son and successor Hassan II (1961–1999) is also buried here.
literature
- Arnold Betten: Morocco. Antiquity, Berber Traditions and Islam - History, Art and Culture in the Maghreb. DuMont, Ostfildern 2009, p. 197f. ISBN 978-3-7701-3935-4
- Markus Hattstein, Peter Delius (Ed.): Islam. Art and architecture . Könemann Verlag, Cologne 2000, pp. 262f. ISBN 3-89508-846-3
Web links
- Hasan Mosque ArchNet (Eng.)
Coordinates: 34 ° 1 ′ 27 ″ N , 6 ° 49 ′ 22 ″ W.