Sidi Oqba, the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia

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The Great Mosque, also known as the Sidi Oqba mosque, had its simple beginnings in 670 AD, during the time of Uqba ibn Nafi, the original founder of Kairouan. As the city expanded during the following three hundred years, the original mosque was torn down and rebuilt in 703, again in 774, and then significantly enlarged by rulers of the Aghlabid dynasty in 836 and 863. By the end of the 9th century the mosque had attained the size and proportions that it exhibits today, though numerous renovations and ornamentations were conducted during the 13th and 14th centuries by the Hafsid dynasty rulers and during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries (when the region was controlled by the Turks) by the Mouradite and Husseinite rulers.

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Size: 6045px × 4047px
Location: Sidi Oqba, the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia
Photo credit: © David Stares / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: africa, architectural, architecture, building, davidstaresphotography, design, great, islam, islamic, kairouan, mosque, muslim, north, religious, style, tunisia, tunisian