Sidi Belahcen Mosque ( ar, مسجد سيدي بلحسن), also known as Sidi Bel Hasan Mosque
or Sidi Abu al-Hasan Mosque
is a historic mosque in the city of
Tlemcen
Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the po ...
,
Algeria
)
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, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, religi ...
. The mosque is located in the southwest of the square next to the
Great Mosque of Tlemcen
The Great Mosque of Tlemcen ( ar, الجامع الكبير لتلمسان, ''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 afterw ...
. Today it serves as a museum.
History
The mosque was founded in 1296 by the
emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
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 ( ar, محراب, ', 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 ...
. The current name of the mosque is considered derived from the name of the local
qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a ''sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minor ...
and
ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
Abi al-Hassan who served under the rule of the
Sultan 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'' ( ar, صَحْن, '), 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'' or arcade on all sides. In traditio ...
and uses similar tiles for the floor and the
qibla
The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...
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 (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
n
Moorish architecture
Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture which developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus (on the Iberian peninsula) and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (part of the Maghreb). The term "Moorish" ...
.
Gallery
File:Mosquée Sidi belahssen Interieur.jpg, Muqarnas
Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of ...
of the mosque
File:Mihrab 1.JPG, Mihrab
Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', 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 ...
of the mosque
File:Entrée de La mosquée de Sidi Bellahsen.JPG, Entrance
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
13th-century mosques
Mosques in Tlemcen
Zayyanid architecture