Mosque of Uqba
The Great Mosque of Kairouan is a mosque situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan, Tunisia and is one of the most impressive and largest Islamic monuments in North Africa. Established by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi in the year 670 CE at the founding of the city of Kairouan, the mosque occupies an area of over 9,000 square metres. Its perimeter, of about 405 metres, contains a hypostyle prayer hall, a marble-paved courtyard and a square minaret.
The front façade of the porch has a large horseshoe arch relied on two marble columns and surmounted by a frieze adorned with a blind arcade, all crowned by serrated merlons. The courtyard is a vast trapezoidal area is surrounded on all its four sides by a portico with double rows of arches, opened by slightly horseshoe arches supported by columns in various marbles, in granite or in porphyry, reused from Roman, Early Christian.
- Mosque of Uqba
- Location: Kairouan
- Country: Tunisia
- Area: 9000 square meters
