The al-Hawa Mosque (; also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

as al-Haoua Mosque in French), also known as the Tawfiq Mosque, is a historic

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 ...

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. It was first built in the 13th century under the

Hafsids The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

and later renovated in the 18th century under the Husainids. It is an official Historical Monument.

History

This mosque was built circa 1252 by Princess Atf, the widow of the first

Hafsid The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

sultan,

Abu Zakariya Yahya Abu Zakariya Yahya (, Abu Zakariya Yahya I ben Abd al-Wahid (12031249) was the founder and first sultan of the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiya. He was the grandson of Abu Hafs Umar ibn Yahya al-Hintati, the leader of the Hintata and second in command ...

(d. 1249), and mother to his successor,

Muhammad I al-Mustansir Muhammad I al-Mustansir (; ) was the second Sultan of Ifriqiya of the Hafsid dynasty and the first to claim the title of Khalif. Al-Mustansir concluded a peace agreement to end the Eighth Crusade launched by Louis IX of France in 1270. Muhamm ...

. Around the same time, Atf also commissioned the construction of an accompanying

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

, the Madrasa al-Hawa or Madrasa al-Tawfiqiya, which was the second madrasa built in Tunis (the first being the Shamma'iya Madrasa). The complex was built in what was then a suburb on the outskirts of the old city of Tunis. The mosque was used as an educational institution by Andalusi immigrants to the city. As it later fell into ruin, it became an "outdoor mosque", on a hill overlooking the gardens and orchards in a place called "Rawdha Essououd". Under the rule of Bey Husayn (1705''–''1735), the mosque was renovated.

Architecture

The mosque consists of a

hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or und ...

prayer hall without a traditional courtyard. The prayer hall is divided by rows of columns into 42 square bays, each bay covered by a brick-built

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: La ...

of reinforced by arch bands. The columns and

capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

are

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin for 'spoils'; : ''spolium'') are stones taken from an old structure and repurposed for new construction or decorative purposes. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice (spoliation) whereby stone that has been quar ...

from older Christian buildings, as these materials were still available in the country at the time. The bay in front of 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". ...

is covered by a dome with a cylindrical

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

. On the inside, the transition between the square bay and the round dome is achieved by four

squinches In architecture, a squinch is a structural element used to support the base of a circular or octagonal dome that surmounts a square-plan chamber. Squinches are placed to diagonally span each of the upper internal corners ( vertices) where the w ...

carved with

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

-like grooves. This is a feature with local precedents dating back to Aghlabid architecture in the 9th century.

References

Mosques in Tunis Buildings and structures completed in 1252 Mosques completed in the 1250s Hafsid architecture {{Tunisia-mosque-stub