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76-581: It was commissioned by Lalla Mas'uda bint Ahmad , a wife of Muhammad al-Sheikh (the founder of the Saadian Dynasty ) and mother of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur , during the Saadian Dynasty. Construction of the mosque began in 1557-58 CE (965 AH ) and probably finished around 1570-71 CE (979 AH), which would have been under the reign of Moulay Abdallah al-Ghalib . Lalla Ma'suda's status as a powerful and "free" or independent woman may have given

152-535: A madrasa , library, hammam (public bathhouse) with latrines, an ablutions house or mida'a ( Arabic : ميضأة), and a public fountain for distributing water to the locals. Although many Marinid -era mosques were also built with attached facilities, this type of grand architectural complex was unprecedented in Morocco and may have been influenced by the tradition of building such complexes in Mamluk Egypt and in

228-568: A msid , was also formerly attached on the east side of the fountain, in a room located on an upper floor reached by a steep staircase, but it too has disappeared. (The same feature has been preserved in the Mouassine Mosque complex, however.) Massa%27uda al-Wizkitiya Mas'uda al-Wizkitiya ( Arabic : مسعودة الوزكيتية ; died 1591), known popularly in Morocco as Lala 'Auda ( للا عودة ) and in Western sources as Lalla Masuda ,

304-563: A hand in establishing Saadian control over the Sous - Dra'a region. She is considered a waliya , or saint. Mas'uda al-Wizkitiya is popularly remembered as Lala 'Auda ( للا عودة ), meaning the Lady of Return, as she would often travel through remote areas in the countryside bringing auspice and fortune. She has also been called as-Sayida al-Hurra ( السيدة الحرة , the Free Lady ) and

380-613: A hidden supporting framework or upper vault above, either glued or suspended by ropes. The earliest monuments to make use of this feature date from the 11th century and are found in Iraq, North Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and Upper Egypt . This apparently near-simultaneous appearance in distant regions of the Islamic world has led to different scholarly theories about their origin and diffusion. Some early scholars of Islamic art, such as K. A. C. Creswell and Georges Marçais , believed that

456-420: A large square lantern ceiling covered by a wooden cupola. The wooden ceiling is another well-crafted berchla construction decorated with geometric coffering and carvings. The wooden lintels and corbels of the gallery arches are carved with low reliefs of vegetal arabesques and abstract calligraphic motifs. On the lower lintel, mixed in with the other motifs, are graceful Thuluth inscriptions (similar in style to

532-456: A new level of standardization and always employed the same repertoire of eight possible shapes, regardless of the complexity of the overall composition. Whereas muqarnas in other regions is typically organized in horizontal layers projecting over each other, those in the west are organized in vertical layers. Wood and stucco were also the preferred mediums of muqarnas construction. Muqarnas eventually reached its highest level of sophistication in

608-523: A pyramidal or triangular shape, more akin to a corbelled vault than a half-dome. This kind of muqarnas vault also appears in some Cairene Mamluk portals, particularly in the shape of the pyramidal muqarnas vault of the Madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Sha'ban , possibly due to Anatolian influence. During the 14th century, Mamluk influence is in turn apparent in the design of muqarnas portals in Anatolia. Under

684-527: A rectangular courtyard occupied in its center by a large rectangular pavilion sheltering a long water basin which aided in the performance of ablutions ( wudu ) before prayer. Around the perimeter of the courtyard is a series of small rooms containing latrines. This architectural arrangement may have precedents as far back as the Almoravid period, seeing as the Qubba Ba'adiyin , a former ablutions kiosk for

760-436: A square frame around the arch. The alcove inside the mihrab is covered by a small octagonal muqarnas cupola. Xavier Salmon notes that while the decoration of the mihrab in this and other Saadian mosques is highly similar to the earlier Almohad mosques of Marrakesh, the decoration is more repetitive and less diverse in its details, while at the same time multiplying the number of different band or friezes of with carved motifs. At

836-561: A standard floor plan for the Saadian period: its southern section consists of a hypostyle prayer hall while its slightly larger northern section consists of a nearly square internal courtyard (a sahn ) surrounded on all sides by a roofed gallery of arches. The courtyard measures 29 meters by 30 meters and has a fountain at its center. The minaret is located at the mosque's northeastern corner. Its façades are decorated with darj-wa-ktaf motifs and blind lambrequin arches. The prayer hall

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912-561: A three-dimensional composition. Although following strict rules and using only a limited set of individual forms, the technique allows for the creation of highly complex and diverse compositions. The interplay of light and shadow across individual cells in a vast, geometric arrangement is what gives muqarnas its aesthetic visual effect. Western writers have often compared the resulting compositions to "stalactites" or "honeycombs" and these terms are often used in European languages to describe

988-786: A tripartite squinch . The earliest surviving examples preserved in situ are tripartite squinches used as transitional elements for domes and semi-domes. These examples include the Arab-Ata Mausoleum (977–978) in Tim (near Samarkand ) in Uzbekistan , the Gunbad-i Qabus (1006–1007) in northeastern Iran, and the Duvazdah Imam Mausoleum (1037–1038) in Yazd , Iran. The oldest muqarnas dome, completed in 1090,

1064-544: A written account by al-Udhri , though the wording may be open to multiple interpretations. Muqarnas in the Maghreb and al-Andalus evolved a different style and execution from that of muqarnas in the regions to the east. In this western region, the technique was also traditionally denoted by the term muqarbaṣ in Arabic and it can also be denoted by the present Spanish term mocárabe . This style of muqarnas reached

1140-532: Is also featured in the Byzantine -built Church of Hagia Sophia in Trabzon (Trebizond), completed in the 13th century. Antony Eastmond, in analyzing this detail of the church and comparing it with other non-Muslim monuments of the period (including Armenian constructions), suggests that muqarnas could have been adopted into a wider repertoire of architectural motifs and ideas that was shared across Anatolia and

1216-760: Is also seen in the Shrine of Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad in Natanz , Iran, which is dated to 1307 and demonstrates the sophistication muqarnas had reached in the Ilkhanid period . The oldest examples of entrance portals decorated with muqarnas vaulting in Iran also date to the Ilkhanid period. Under the Timurids , ruling from Central Asia in the late 14th and 15th centuries, some extraordinary muqarnas vaults were built. Muqarnas

1292-547: Is also speculation of the origin to stem from the Arabic word qarnasi meaning "intricate work". Nişanyan claims that it is related to the Aramaic קרנסא, meaning "hammering". The Spanish term mocárabe is derived from the Arabic term muqarbaṣ , which was also used to denote muqarnas in the western regions of the Islamic world. Its origin may be Koinē Greek : κρηπίѕ , romanized:  krēpís , lit.   'base, plinth'. It may also be related to

1368-461: Is an archetypal form of Islamic architecture, integral to the vernacular of Islamic buildings, and typically featured in domes and vaults, as well as iwans , entrance portals, or other niches. It is sometimes referred to as "honeycomb vaulting" or "stalactite vaulting". The muqarnas structure originated from the squinch . Its purpose is to create a smooth, decorative zone of transition in an otherwise bare, structural space. This structure gives

1444-574: Is credited with building the bridge over the Um ar-Rabii'a River . She also provided administrative counsel to her son Ahmad al-Mansur . She recommended, for example, that he seek help from the Ottoman sultan, Selim II . She supported impoverished communities in rural areas through economic assistance and support for small businesses. She also facilitated the marriage of young people to strengthen those communities. She helped these young people exercise

1520-430: Is divided into 7 aisles or naves by rows of horseshoe arches running perpendicular with the southeastern wall (the qibla wall), with the central aisle slightly wider than the others. This central aisle is aligned with the mosque's mihrab (niche in the southeastern wall symbolizing the qibla ) and is also highlighted at either end by a decorative cupola above. The cupola at the southeastern end, directly in front of

1596-647: Is found in the Imam Dur Mausoleum , at Samarra . (This shrine was reported destroyed by ISIS in October 2014. ) Some scholars have theorized that muqarnas originated in northeastern Iran, based on the evidence from Nishapur and Tim, and that it was further developed in subsequent Great Seljuk architecture , as seen in the Seljuk domes of the Great Mosque of Isfahan (1088). Other scholars believe

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1672-506: Is made of marble and features a capital carved with muqarnas. This feature is also found in the Mouassine Mosque, though the bayt al-'itikaf of the Mouassine Mosque has slightly richer decoration. Like the Mouassine Mosque, the Bab Doukkala Mosque has an ablutions house ( mida'a ) included in a separate structure located on the northeast side of the mosque (across from the street from the minaret). This structure consists of

1748-572: Is to bridge the transition between the base of a circular dome and a square chamber below it, effectively serving as an evolution of the more traditional squinch. The form and medium vary depending on the region they are found, as does the size of individual cells. In Syria , Egypt , and Turkey, muqarnas are usually constructed out of stone. In North Africa, they are typically constructed from plaster or wood. In Iran and Iraq, muqarnas are built with bricks which are sometimes covered in plaster or ceramic. Some plaster muqarnas compositions are attached to

1824-414: The gavit s (narthexes) of the churches, which were the locus of much innovation and experimentation in medieval Armenian architecture. These borrowings of Islamic architectural motifs may have been due to either Ilkhanid or Seljuk influences in the region, although the wide geographic spread of muqarnas usage in this period makes it difficult to pinpoint any specific influence with certainty. Muqarnas

1900-740: The Alhambra of Granada , built by the Nasrids . The most impressive domes are found in the Palace of the Lions , built in the 14th century. The dome over the chamber known today as the Sala de Dos Hermanas ('Hall of the Two Sisters') is one of the most magnificent muqarnas domes in Islamic art, consisting of at least 5000 cells that unfold from a central summit downward into sixteen miniature domes around

1976-590: The Ben Youssef Mosque , has a very similar layout. The roofed pavilion over the courtyard's water basin is also notable for its wooden berchla or artesonado ceiling. The mida'a structure also features a richly-decorated street fountain on its exterior; a Saadian architectural tradition also seen in the Mouassine Fountain and the Shrob ou Shof Fountain (and again with precedents found in

2052-583: The Jazira region of eastern Syria, with a diverse variety of applications in domes, vaults, mihrabs, and niches. These domes date from a period of great architectural activity between the mid-12th century and the Mongol invasion in the mid-13th century. They follow the same model as the dome of the Imam Dur Mausoleum and have a pine cone-like appearance from the outside, as exemplified by the dome of

2128-827: The Mausoleum of Zumurrud Khatun , completed before 1202 in the late Abbasid period. This type of dome was also popular in Zengid Syria around the same time, as in the example of the Bimaristan of Nur al-Din in Damascus (1154), which also features a shallow muqarnas vault hood over its entrance portal. In northern Mesopotamia, muqarnas domes were often made of stucco inside a conical or pyramidal brick roof, as seen in Mausoleum of Imam Awn Al-Din in Mosul (built in 1245, destroyed by ISIL in 2014 ). A closely related type

2204-724: The Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan in Cairo. Among the other examples, several unusual portals have muqarnas covering the underside of a flat vault, most notably at the Mosque of Amir Ulmas (1330). Muqarnas became less prominent in Mamluk portals during the 15th century. In Anatolia , the monuments of the Anatolian Seljuks and other local dynasties made use of muqarnas inside mihrabs (sometimes covered in tilework), on

2280-735: The Ottoman Baroque period . In the western Islamic world, muqarnas decoration was definitively introduced during the reign of the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf . The earliest examples, although limited to small details of larger domes, are found in the Almoravid Qubba in Marrakesh , Morocco, built probably in 1117 or 1125, and in the stucco openwork dome in front of the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Tlemcen , Algeria, dated to 1136. The earliest complete muqarnas vaults in

2356-583: The Ottoman Empire . The minaret appears to have been added some time after the mosque's construction. Based on its style, Xavier Salmon suggests that it may have been built around the same time as the minaret of the Zawiya of Sidi Bel Abbes (built by Abu Faris Abdallah ), at the beginning of the 17th century. The three arches on the exterior northeastern facade of the mosque, near the minaret's base, probably also date from this time and served to reinforce

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2432-530: The Ottomans , the tradition of Seljuk muqarnas continued into Ottoman architecture , although it diminished in importance during the Classical period in the 16th century, when it was only one element in a wider decorative repertoire. It was mainly used in entrance portals, niches, and column capitals. It eventually faded from use in the 18th century, when European-influenced decoration began to predominate in

2508-466: The atomist and occasionalist view of the universe endorsed by Muslim philosophers , particularly the version formulated by al-Baqillani (d. 1013) and endorsed by the Abbasid caliph al-Qadir (r. 991–1031), roughly around the time that muqarnas began to appear. By subdividing the continuous surface of a dome into a large number of small units organized in a complex pattern, while also de-emphasizing

2584-417: The capitals of columns, in the transitional zones of minaret balconies, and over masonry entrance portals. It was used less in the pendentives and squinches of domes, where other techniques came to be employed instead. The muqarnas-vaulted entrance portal was strongly associated with Seljuk royal patronage in the 13th century and spread more widely across Anatolia as the century progressed. It typically had

2660-503: The minaret of Badr al-Jamali's mashhad in Cairo, dated by inscription to 1085, and a cornice in Cairo's north wall (1085). The first fully realized, sophisticated use of muqarnas is found on the street façade of the Aqmar Mosque (1125) in Cairo. The advanced technical mastery of constructing muqarnas suggests that the technique and its associated architectural elements were imported from elsewhere. Jonathan Bloom speculates that

2736-641: The right to marriage and family life by helping them secure dowries , marriage costs, and other financial burdens preventing them from getting married. She had a noted propensity for documentation, meticulously documenting her activities and charitable donations . The Lalla Masuda Qubba is the oldest part of the Saadian Tombs in Marrakesh. The Marrakshi historian Al-Abbas bin Ibrahim as-Samlali recorded in his encyclopedia Information About

2812-465: The 12th century muqarnas had spread far and wide and from this point onward it would develop into different styles in different regions. A broad distinction in style and technique is sometimes made between muqarnas in the Maghreb and al-Andalus (the far western regions of the Islamic world) and muqarnas in the rest of the Islamic world. The largest examples of muqarnas domes can be found in Iraq and

2888-861: The 13th century also made use of muqarnas, spurred by the influence of contemporary Islamic architecture. Examples of this can be found in the Geghard Monastery , the Gandzasar Monastery , the church in Astvatsankal (all in present-day Armenia), and at the Church of the Apostles and the Church of St Gregory of the Illuminator in Ani (in present-day eastern Turkey). In many of these examples, muqarnas vaults are recurring features in

2964-612: The 18th century, Iranian muqarnas began to be covered with mirror glass mosaics, with one of the earliest examples found at Chehel Sotoun in Isfahan, dating to its restoration in 1706–7. This style was used afterward to decorate the interiors of major Shi'a shrines in Iran and Iraq. Muqarnas was also a recurring embellishment of vaults and iwans in Mughal architecture in the Indian subcontinent . Experimentation with new styles of vaulting

3040-512: The Almoravid-era Ben Youssef complex). The fountain, adjoined to the mida'a 's northeastern façade, consists of three arched bays in a row to the right, which contained water troughs for animals, and a fourth bay on the left which contained a water basin for humans. (A wooden bar across the fountain's opening traditionally prevented large animals from reaching the water intended for humans.) The facility thus provided water for

3116-437: The Arabic word mukrab meaning "solid, firm, bound". Muqarnas consists of a series of niche-like elements or cells which are combined in a geometrical framework with a few axes of symmetry. The individual cells consist of a limited set of simple prismatic elements which are combined according to precise rules. Cells are organized in multiple levels overlapping and projecting over those below like corbels , thus creating

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3192-634: The Islamic empire. This allowed for a great exchange of ideas as well as a lucrative economy, capable of funding various architectural projects. At Qal'at Bani Hammad in central Algeria, a royal city founded in the early 11th century by the Hammadid dynasty , archeologists discovered fragments of plaster which have been identified by some as the earliest appearance of muqarnas in the western Islamic world, but their dating and their identification as true muqarnas have been rejected or disputed by some scholars, including Yasser Tabbaa and Jonathan Bloom. By

3268-700: The Notables of Marrakesh and Aghmat : — Al-Abbas bin Ibrahim as-Samlali , Information about the Notables of Marrakesh and Aghmat Muqarnas Muqarnas ( Arabic : مقرنص ; Persian : مقرنس , or Persian: آهوپای , romanized:  ahoopāy ), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from Arabic: مقربص , romanized:  muqarbaṣ ), 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

3344-888: The Phoenix of the Sahara ( عنقاء الصحراء ). Lalla Mas’uda is from the Ait Ouaouzguit tribe, who are Chleuhs of the Masmuda confederation. She established mosques and Quranic schools , including the Bab Doukkala Mosque . The Lala 'Auda Mosque in Meknes , also carries her name, as does the adjacent Lalla 'Auda Square. She also set out to improve roads within the kingdom, particularly in rural areas to connect them with urban centers to give them access to essential services, such as healthcare and education. She

3420-587: The Saadian period). The mosque's form and layout is highly similar to the Mouassine Mosque, which was built shortly after it. It also continues many of the architectural characteristics of the earlier Almohad mosques such as the Kutubiyya Mosque and the Tinmal Mosque . Although slightly smaller than the Mouassine Mosque, the architecture of the Bab Doukkala Mosque is in some ways more sophisticated and more carefully decorated. The mosque itself has

3496-474: The ability to distinguish between the main parts of a building and serves as a transition from the walls of a square or rectangular room to a round dome or vault above it. Muqarnas could also form entire vaults and domes. From below, these compositions can create an elaborate visual effect based on the interplay of light and shadow across the surfaces sculpted into three-dimensional patterns. Muqarnas most likely first developed in eleventh-century Iraq , though

3572-418: The cells. Muqarnas in carved stone was characteristic of Ayyubid and Mamluk architecture from the 13th to early 16th centuries in Egypt and the Levant. The Mamluk sultan Baybars introduced to Egypt the Syrian tradition of entrance portals with a muqarnas hood. These subsequently developed into spectacular designs used in at the entrances of both religious monuments and private palaces, forming some of

3648-473: The cupola. Another aisle also runs along the length southeastern wall, parallel to it and perpendicular to the other aisles, thus forming a "T-plan" with the central aisle of the mosque. This transverse aisle is denoted from the rest of the mosque by a row of transverse arches (i.e. running perpendicular to the other arches of the mosque) with a pointed lambrequin profile . The mihrab is further highlighted with two lambrequin arches on either side, which continued

3724-458: The dome's perimeter. Muqarnas was also employed in the constructions sponsored by non-Muslim patrons in the Iberian Peninsula, referred to as Mudéjar art . It continued to be used up to the 17th century in chapels, synagogues, and palaces. The Asunción chapel in the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas (near Burgos in northern Spain) features muqarnas and other Islamic-style decoration compatible with Almohad craftsmanship. Muqarnas

3800-424: The earliest preserved examples are also found outside this region. As the technique became widespread in the 12th century, regional styles and variations developed across the Islamic world. The etymology of the word muqarnas is somewhat vague. Its earliest use in Arabic dates to the 12th century. It is thought to have originated from the Greek word korōnis , meaning " cornice " or "ornamental molding". There

3876-449: The evidence points to a simultaneous parallel development in these different regions. Others propose that they originated in one region at least a century earlier and then spread from there. The earliest evidence of muqarnas-like elements, although only conjectural, comes from fragments of stucco found in Nishapur , Iran, dated to the 9th or 10th century. These fragments have concave triangular shapes and were reconstructed by excavators as

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3952-439: The former squinches and making the dome appear unsupported, architects were representing a universe divided into atoms and held together by God. Tabbaa goes on to suggest that the symbolism of the muqarnas dome as a representation of the rotating dome of heaven, proposed by Grabar, could have been a secondary interpretation that developed in subsequent centuries. The muqarnas domes were often constructed above portals of entry for

4028-524: The fountain's inscriptions) with praises to God and other blessings of health and prosperity. According to Xavier Salmon, the ornamentation in this room, which is more elaborate than that of the Mouassine hammam, are among the most superb examples of woodcarving from the Saadian period. The mosque's former madrasa was attached to the east side of the building (or to the northwest corner of the building) but has not been preserved, and has since been replaced by newer structures. A small Qur'anic school for children,

4104-403: The line of arches along the main central aisle of the mosque. The three lambrequin arches thus surrounding the mihrab, which are slightly more elaborate than all the others, are also decorated with muqarnas within their intrados . The transverse aisle is also highlighted by a square-based muqarnas cupola at both ends, in the southwestern and southeastern corners of the mosque. Lastly, the arches in

4180-598: The maintenance of personal hygiene and the accomplishment of the ghusl . It is located to the southeast of the mida'a , across the street. Like the Mouassine's hammam and other Moroccan hammams in general, it consists of a changing room (where guests first enter), followed by a cold room , a warm room , and a hot room . (Guests proceeded from the cold room into progressively hotter rooms, with steam intended to induce perspiration.) The steam rooms, which were constantly humid, are covered by brick domes protected with plaster but without decoration. The changing room, by contrast,

4256-536: The mihrab, has a typical square plan filled with muqarnas . The cupola at the northwestern end of the aisle, at the entrance from the courtyard, has an octagonal shape which is also filled with muqarnas compositions and whose transition with the square space below is achieved by four muqarnas squinches . This more elaborate creation may date from a renovation carried out in 1852-1853 CE (1269 AH) by Muhammad as-Sheikh al-M'amun (the future Muhammad IV ) during Moulay Abd ar-Rahman 's reign, as evidenced by an inscription on

4332-401: The mosque its alternate name of Jami' al-Hurra ("Mosque of Freedom"). In 1557-58 CE the sultan had ordered that the Jewish population of the city relocate to an area closer to the Kasbah (royal citadel), resulting in the creation of a Jewish mellah which continued to exist into modern times. Construction of the new mellah was probably finished around 1562-63. Meanwhile, the emptying of

4408-400: The most accomplished stone muqarnas designs in the Islamic world. Muqarnas was also frequently used to cover the pendentives inside domed chambers. Muqarnas vaulting in Mamluk portals usually culminated in a scalloped or shell-shaped semi-dome at the top. Variations of this style became prevalent in the entrance portals of the 14th century, with the most monumental example being that of

4484-415: The most likely point of origin is instead Abbasid Iraq in the early 11th century, at a time when the Abbasids in Baghdad were undergoing a renaissance. Alicia Carrillo Calderero has proposed that the first muqarnas originated in the palaces of the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad. In the case of Egypt, the earliest known and securely dated examples of muqarnas are from the Fatimid period and are found on

4560-437: The neighbourhood, an act of charity which had religious connotations as well. Only the fountain for humans features any decoration: the arch of the fountain is decorated with carved stucco consoles below a corbelled wood lintel above which is a wooden canopy. The current stucco consoles probably date from later restorations, but the wooden lintels above it are most likely original. They are made in cedar wood and carved with

4636-412: The old Jewish neighbourhoods had liberated a large amount of space within the city which was open to redevelopment. The Bab Doukkala Mosque, along with the Mouassine Mosque built around the same time, appears to have been part of a larger plan to build new "model" neighbourhoods in the area. It was conceived as part of a coherent religious and civic complex which included, in addition to the mosque itself,

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4712-475: The oldest surviving muqarnas fragments were found in a palace built by Muhammad Ibn Mardanish (r. 1147–1172), excavated under the present-day Monastery of Santa Clara in Murcia . The fragments are painted with images of musicians and other figures. It's possible that an even older instance of muqarnas existed in a palace inside the Alcazaba of Almería , dating to the reign of the Taifa ruler al-Mu'tasim (r. 1051–1091). The evidence for its existence comes from

4788-455: The outside influence could originate from Syria, but notes that there are few Syrian monuments still standing that can support this claim. A cemetery in Aswan, containing many domed tombs from the 11th and 12th centuries, is a crucial example for the advancement in the development of the stalactite pendentive. In the mid-11th century, prosperous pilgrimage routes along the Red Sea and flourishing trade routes began in Cairo and dispersed throughout

4864-422: The rest of the prayer hall are decorated with bands of stucco carved with relatively simple geometric decoration forming semi-rectangular frames on the wall surfaces around each arch. The decoration of the mihrab consists of the usual carved stucco on the surface of the wall around its arched opening, featuring various arabesque motifs and a band of geometric motifs , along with an inscription in Kufic running in

4940-415: The same kind of ornamentation found in other fountains of the Saadian era. In addition to floral motifs, the top lintel is carved with an inscription in Thuluth script which reads (approximate translation): "The most beautiful words that have been said are: praise to God in all circumstances!" The hammam (bathhouse) of the complex was another service rendered unto the neighbourhood's residents, allowing for

5016-429: The southwestern corner of the mosque, extending from the transverse aisle in front of the qibla wall, is a room called the bayt al-'itikaf ( Arabic : بيت الاعتكف ) which served as a space for spiritual retreat. It consists of a small square chamber, accessed via a short staircase, with a double-arched window that opens back onto the prayer hall of the mosque. The window's arches have modest stuco decoration and its column

5092-443: The surrounding region at this time. As with the origins of the muqarnas form, there are multiple theories about its possible symbolic meaning or function. Oleg Grabar , in his work on the Alhambra in Granada, suggested that the large muqarnas domes in the Palace of the Lions were representations of the rotating heavens. Yasser Tabbaa has argued that the muqarnas dome was originally intended as an architectural representation of

5168-405: The technique. Muqarnas is typically applied to the undersides of domes , pendentives , cornices, squinches , arches and vaults and is often seen in the mihrab of a mosque. It can also be applied across a flat surface as a decorative band or frieze. Its main function is ornamental and it is typically used to obscure or fill the structural transitions within a building. One of its main uses

5244-411: The walls to support the minaret. Historian Gaston Deverdun argued that the mosque, the mida'a , the fountain, and the hammam of this complex were likely all built at the same time during the original construction, while the minaret, the small adjoining madrasa (no longer preserved), and the msid (Qur'anic school for children) formerly adjoined to the mida'a were of later construction (possibly later in

5320-405: The western Islamic world are located in the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fez , dating to Ali ibn Yusuf's major expansion of the mosque between 1134 and 1143. These vaults are made of plaster and suspended from hidden wooden struts above them. They are richly decorated, with individual cells painted with vegetal motifs and highlighted in red and blue. Further north, in al-Andalus (present-day Spain),

5396-407: Was a Moroccan political figure in the Saadi Dynasty . She is remembered for her humanitarian, charity, political, and development work. She was the wife of the Saadian Sultan Mohammed al-Shaykh and mother of their son Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur . Lalla Masuda was the daughter of the sheikh of the qasba of Warzazat , Sheikh Abu al-'Abaas Ahmed bin Abdellah al-Wizkiti al-Warzazi, who had

5472-592: Was also used by Christian patrons outside the Muslim world, in regions influenced by Islamic art and culture. It is found in some monuments of Arab-Norman architecture in 12th-century Sicily. The most impressive example is in the Cappella Palatina (c. 1140) in Palermo , which has a central nave covered by the largest rectangular muqarnas vault in the world, made of painted wood. Armenian architecture in

5548-435: Was characteristic of the reign of Jahangir ( r.  1605–1627 ). Muqarnas with small lozenge-shaped cells were combined with a related type of geometrically-patterned (squinch net) vaulting, usually based on a star motif. The latter was probably derived from the influence of Safavid architecture. In Mughal decoration, muqarnas are often covered with arabesque decoration, crafted with molded plaster and fitted to each of

5624-583: Was composed, the Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb ('Key to Arithmetic'), written by Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashi in 1427. Muqarnas vaulting nonetheless became somewhat less popular in the region during this period. In Safavid Iran of the 16th to early 18th centuries, muqarnas was no longer used to cover the interiors of religious buildings but was still used to fill the vaults of iwans. Like other surfaces in Safavid architecture , they were typically covered in colourful tilework. In

5700-411: Was richly decorated. It consists of a square room with four pillars forming a slightly smaller square within it. The peripheral space around these pillars forms a narrow gallery covered by wooden ceilings and featuring a large frieze of stucco along its upper walls carved with 16-pointed star motifs. The four pillars uphold corbelled arches of wooden lintels (similar in concept to the street fountain) below

5776-423: Was used on the exterior of large ribbed domes along the transition between the base of the dome and the cylindrical drum below. Timurid architecture also developed a new type of geometric ribbed vaulting, also known as "squinch net vaulting", where muqarnas was further employed to fill spaces between different segments of the vault. It is also in this period that the oldest surviving written work about muqarnas

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