Sidi Belahcen Mosque (), also known as Sidi Bel Hasan Mosque
or Sidi Abu al-Hasan Mosque
is a historic mosque in the city of
Tlemcen
Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...
,
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
. The mosque is located in the southwest of the square, next to the
Great Mosque of Tlemcen
The Great Mosque of Tlemcen (, ''el-Jemaa el-Kebir litilimcen'') is a major historic mosque in Tlemcen, Algeria. It was founded and first built in 1082 but modified and embellished several times afterwards. It is considered one of the most import ...
. Today it serves as the Islamic Calligraphy Museum of Tlemcen.
History
The mosque was founded in 1296 by the
emir
Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...
Abi Ibrahim ibn Yahya during the
Zayyanid era as inscribed on the plank of the western wall in the prayer hall, as well as the two groves made of gypsum on top 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".
...
. The current name of the mosque is considered derived from the name of the local
qadi
A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works.
History
The term '' was in use from ...
and
ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam.
"Ulama ...
Abi al-Hassan who served under the rule of the
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 ...
Abi Sayeed Uthman (1283-1303).
Architecture
The mosque has rather modest appearance compared to the other mosques of the same era. The mosque has no
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 ...
and uses similar tiles for the floor and the
qibla
The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...
wall. The ceiling was consisted of interlocking logs made of cedar trees, which is the first of its kind in Algeria and predates three or four centuries the style employed in the
Andalusia
Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
n
Moorish architecture
Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture that developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula) and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (part of the Maghreb). Scholarly references on Is ...
.
Gallery
File:Muqarnas de la mosquée de Sidi Bellahsen - 02.jpg, 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 ...
of the mosque
File:Mosquée de Sidi Bellahsen, Tlemcen.jpg, Entrance of the mosque
File:Décoration du mihrab de la mosquée Sidi Belahassen, Tlemcen - 02.jpg, 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".
...
decoration
See also
*
Lists of mosques
*
List of mosques in Africa
*
List of mosques in Algeria
References
Bibliography
*Bourouiba, R., L’art religieux musulman en Algérie, Alger : S.N.E.D., 1981, p. 108-129.
*Bourouiba, A., Apports de l'Algérie à l'architecture arabo-islamique, Alger : S.N.E.D., 1986. Basset, H. ; Terrasse, H., « Sanctuaires et Forteresses almohades », in Hespéris, V, Paris : 1932.
*Marçais, G., L'architecture musulmane d'Occident, Tunisie, Algérie, Maroc, Espagne et Sicile, Paris : Arts et métiers graphiques, 1954.
*Marçais, G., Tlemcen, Paris : H. Laurens, « Les villes d'art célèbres », 1950.
*Marçais, G., Les monuments arabes de Tlemcen, Paris : Fontemoing, 1905.
{{Mosques in Algeria
Mosques completed in the 1290s
Mosques in Tlemcen
Zayyanid architecture
Buildings and structures completed in 1296