KAIROUAN - PART ONE
MAGHREB'S HOLY CITY - DECEMBER 2007
Kairouan was founded in 670 (the year 50 according to the Islamic calendar) when the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi selected a site about 160 kilometres south of Tunis as the location of a military post for the conquest of the West. It flourished under the Aghlabid dynasty in the 9th century, and though the political capital was transferred to Tunis in the 12th century, Kairouan remained the Maghreb's principal holy city, ranking after Mecca and Medina as a place of pilgrimage. Also known as The City of the Fifty Mosques, including the rich Great Mosque and the 9th-century Mosque of the Three Gates, Kairouan is the oldest Muslim place of prayer in North Africa, and was included in the UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1988.
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"GREAT MOSQUE - The wall and Minaret of the Mosque of Uqba seen from the outside, close to the Handicraft Centre. The mosque is spread over an area of 900 square metres and takes the form of an irregular quadrilateral, which is wider on the side of the main entrance (138 metres) than on the opposite side (128 metres) and thinner on the side of the minaret (71 metres) than on the opposite side (77 metres)!"
"GREAT MOSQUE - Though originally built in 670 AD, nothing remains of the original mosque, the current Mosque dating from 863 AD. Actually, the original mosque was torn down...