The Lalla ez-Zhar Mosque (), or al-Zahr Mosque, is a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

located in

Fes el-Jdid Fes Jdid or Fes el-Jdid () is one of the three parts of Fez, the second largest city of Morocco. It was founded by the Marinids in 1276 as an extension of Fes el Bali (the old city or ''medina'') and as a royal citadel and capital. It is occup ...

in the historic old city of Fez,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. It is also known by the name ''Jama’ el-Hajjar'' (“Mosque of Stone”), probably in reference to its stone portal entrance. The mosque was founded or completed in 1357 CE (759 AH) by the

Marinid The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Abu Inan.

Architecture

Layout

The mosque consists essentially of a square floor plan to which are adjoined the

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

(at the southeast corner) and an ablutions chamber next to it. The interior is divided into three aisles or naves by two rows of three

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; ), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the ar ...

es. The middle of the northernmost aisle is occupied by a small square open courtyard (''

sahn A ''sahn'' (, '), is a courtyard in Islamic architecture, especially the formal courtyard of a mosque. Most traditional mosques have a large central ''sahn'', which is surrounded by a ''Riwaq (arcade), riwaq'' or arcade (architecture), arcade on ...

''), measuring 6.6

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

s per side and featuring a central fountain. A 12-metre-deep

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

is also included along the northern wall of the mosque to the east of the courtyard, which provided water. The main entrance of the mosque leads into this courtyard. The southernmost aisle includes the ''

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

'' (niche symbolizing the

direction of prayer Prayer in a certain direction is characteristic of many world religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá'í Faith. Judaism Jews traditionally pray in the direction of Jerusalem, where the presence of the transcendent God ...

), located in the middle of the mosque's back wall. The ablutions chamber, adjoined to the east side of the mosque, is reached by a passage which branches off from the vestibule of the main entrance. The chamber consists of a courtyard with rectangular water basin and flanked by smaller rooms for

latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...

Decoration

The mosque is noted for its exquisite decoration in spite of its size. Most notably, its entrance portal is made of carved stone (relatively rare for Marinid mosques) featuring geometric patterns and ''

muqarnas Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...

''. A legend claims that the stone portal was carved in

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

(Muslim Spain) under commission from Abu Inan and then transported to Fes. An Arabic inscription carved in the stone over the entrance praises Abu Inan and records the date of the mosque's foundation. The mosque has an ornate minaret whose facades are covered with alternating '' darj-wa-ktaf'' motifs (similar to the

Grand Mosque of Fes el-Jdid The Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid () is the historic main Friday mosque of Fes el-Jdid, the royal city and Marinid-era citadel of Fes, Morocco. It is believed to have been founded in 1276, around the same time that the city itself was founded, mak ...

) and whose main shaft is crowned by a wide bad of ''

zellij Zellij (), also spelled zillij or zellige, is a style of mosaic tilework made from individually hand-chiseled tile pieces. The pieces were typically of different colours and fitted together to form various patterns on the basis of tessellations, ...

'' or mosaic tilework in geometric patterns. The most notable interior decoration is around the mihrab, which has richly-carved

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

decoration.

References

External links

Virtual exhibit on Boris Maslow (1893-1962)
Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine; includes old pictures of the mosque's minaret (see last 2 pictures at the bottom) {{Mosques in Morocco Mosques in Fez, Morocco Marinid architecture Buildings and structures completed in 1357 Mosques completed in the 1350s

Architecture

Layout

Decoration

See also

References

External links