Madrasa El Mountaciriya ( ar, المدرسة المنتصرية), also known as Madrasa Al Fath is one of the
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
hs of the
medina of Tunis
The Medina of Tunis is the medina quarter of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from t ...
.
Location
It is located in Les Nègres Street in
Souk En Nhas
Souk En Nhas (English: copper market) is one of the souks of the medina of Tunis. It is specialised in selling copper utensils.
Location
The souk location is between the Kasbah
A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, li ...
.
Etymology
The madrasa got its name from its founder, the
Hafsid
The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (western ...
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) 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 ...
Abû `Abd Allâh Muhammad al-Mutansir.
History
The construction works started in 1434 during the reign of Abû `Abd Allâh Muhammad al-Mutansir and finished in 1437 under the rule of
Abou Amr Uthman.
[Mohamed Béji Ben Mami, Monuments de la médina de Tunis à travers les âges] Construction was slowed by the wars occurring during the reign of al-Mutansir; the period was one of general prosperity.
Architecture
The madrasa has a very sober architecture like the madrasa Andaloussiya. Both have only one floor and a very large hall covered with stones.
Three of the hall's sides are occupied by the student cells while in the fourth there is an
oratory.
Instead of the
galleries like in other
madrasas
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
, El Mountaciriya has
Iwan
An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...
s, inspired from the oriental architecture like in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
or
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
The madrasa has also a mosque with three slabs.
This building has witnessed many modifications through the years. For example, Abou Ghaith Al Qachach added a dome to the prayer room.
The Association de Sauvegarde de la Médina restored the building in 1995.
Nowadays, it is an animation space for elderly people.
References
{{Coord missing, Tunisia
Madrasas in the medina of Tunis