The Kizimkazi Dimbani Mosque (''Misikiti wa kale wa Kizimkazi Dimbani'' in Swahili) 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 the town of Dimbani,

Kusini District Kusini District (''Wilaya ya Kusini'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of two administrative districts of Unguja South Region of Tanzania. The district has a water border to the east, south and west by the Indian Ocean. Kati District borders ...

Unguja South Region Unguja South Region, Zanzibar South Region or South Zanzibar Region (''Mkoa wa Unguja Kusini'' in Swahili) is one of the 31 regions of Tanzania. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nat ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. It is situated on the southern tip of the island of

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

and is one of the oldest

Islamic buildings Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

on the

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n coast. Despite its name, it is located in Dimbani, not

Kizimkazi Kizimkazi - officially Kizimkazi Mkunguni, but also known as Kizimkazi Mtendeni - is a fishing village on the southern coast of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and was once a walled city. It is situated three miles southeast of the Kizimkazi Mosque (which i ...

, which is away (this is because the official names of these two joined villages are Kizimkazi Dimbani and Kizimkazi Mtendeni). According to a preserved

kufic The Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script, that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts ...

inscription, it was built in

1107 Year 1107 (Roman numerals, MCVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Scotland * January 8 – King Edgar, King of Scotland, Edgar dies at Edinburgh Castle after a 9-year reign. He is succ ...

.DE V. ALLEN, J. “THE ‘SHIRAZI’ PROBLEM IN EAST AFRICAN COASTAL HISTORY.” Paideuma, vol. 28, 1982, pp. 9–27. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41409871. Accessed 24 Jul. 2022. Although the inscription and certain

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

-carved decorative elements date from the period of construction, the majority of the present structure was rebuilt in the 18th century.

Gallery

Kizimkazi old.jpg, Kizimkazi Mosque interior in the 19th Century. Pillar tombs at historic Kizimkazi Mosque, Kusini DC, South Zanzibar, Tanzania.jpg, Kizimkazi Mosque Cemetery with pillar tombs KizimkaziMosque2.JPG, Information sign View inside historic Kizimkazi Mosque, Kusini DC, South Zanzibar, Tanzania.jpg, Kizimkazi Mosque prayer hall Mangrove pole roof, Swahili architecture at historic Kizimkazi Mosque, Kusini DC, South Zanzibar, Tanzania.jpg, Swahili architecture magrove pool roofs at Kizimkazi Mosque

References

1107 establishments Mosques in Zanzibar Shirazi people Buildings and structures completed in 1107 Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1100s 12th-century mosques in Africa Swahili architecture {{Zanzibar-stub

Gallery

See also

References