The Great Mosque of Kairouan is the oldest mosque in North Africa and one of the most important sites of Islam in the region. It was founded by Uqba ibn Nafi, the Arab general who established Kairouan as a military base for the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. The present building mostly dates from the Aghlabid reconstruction of the 9th century. It has a large courtyard and a prayer hall supported by hundreds of columns, many reused from Roman and Byzantine buildings, a mihrab decorated with luster tiles imported from Baghdad, and a massive square minaret that is among the oldest surviving ones in the Islamic world. Kairouan became a holy city and a place of pilgrimage, and UNESCO inscribed the city in 1988.
Before and after
- from 656 CE to 661 CEFirst Fitna
- 661 CEDeath of Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib
- from 661 CE to 750 CEUmayyad Caliphate
- 26 January 661 CEAssassination of Ali
- 670 CEConstruction of Great Mosque of Kairouan
- 670 CEConstruction of Kairouan
- 670 CEDeath of Brahmagupta
- from 680 CE to 1355Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars
- from 680 CE to 692 CESecond Fitna
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 691 CEConstruction of Dome of the Rock
- 1066Construction of Tower of London
- from 1368 to 1644Ming dynasty
- from 1370 to 1789Construction of Bastille
- from 1438 to 1533Inca Empire
- 1473Construction of Sistine Chapel
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 7th century.