Great Mosque of Kairouan

The Great Mosque of Kairouan (Mosque of Uqba) was built during the 7^th century at the time Kairouan was founded, and is considered to a model for later North African mosques.  It was expanded during the 9^th century and covers around 9,000 square meters.  Other impressive measurements include its 1.9 meter thick walls, which help give it a fortress-like feel.   There is a massive sloped courtyard and a rainwater collector pool (with accompanying filters) in the center of the courtyard.

The 32 meter tall 8^th century minaret is the fourth oldest in the world, serves as a watchtower and is used in prayer calls.  It has 128 steps that were reputedly made of stones taken from Christian churches and graveyards.

The prayer hall has an amazing collection of over 400 white marble, pink porphyry, and blue granite columns.  There is an elegant marble mihrab and carved wooden maksoura, and the minbar (Iman’s pulpit) is the oldest in the Islamic world with its 300 pieces of sculpted teak.   Unfortunately you can only look into the prayer hall, as entrance into both this and the top of the minaret has been closed off to tourists as a result of previous tourist behaviour.