Chinguetti Mosque
The mosque is located within the Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata, a 54.7 ha (135-acre) UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 1996.
Overview
The mosque is constructed of split stone and clay with a roof of palm beams on stone piers. Architecturally, the structure features a prayer room with four aisles as well as a double-niched symbolic door, or mihrab pointing towards Mecca and an open courtyard. The twin mihrab and minbar niches are built into the qibla wall, which is typical of the mosques of the region.
Among its most distinctive characteristics are its spare, unmortared, split stone masonry, its square minaret tower, and its conscious lack of adornment, keeping with the strict Malikite beliefs of the city's founders. The mosque and its minaret is popularly considered the national emblem of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
The mosque was restored through a UNESCO effort, but it, along with the city itself, continues to be threatened by intense desertification.
See also
References
- ^ Glassé, Cyril; Smith, Huston (January 2003). The new encyclopedia of Islam. Rowman Altamira. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7591-0190-6. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
- ^ "Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata". UNESCO World Heritage. 1996. Archived from the original on September 9, 2005.
- ^ "Chinguetti Great Mosque". Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture. February 20, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
External links
Media related to Chinguetti Mosque at Wikimedia Commons
- "Chinguetti Mosque". Archnet. Archived from the original on May 14, 2005.
- "Chinguetti Mosque". World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites. World Monuments Fund. 2008.
- "Chinguetti". Palin's Travels.