The land of the Moors; a comprehensive description . y inscriptions there may have been on themare hidden, f The Karueein is celebrated as the largest mosque inAfrica, but it is by no means the most magnificent. Itsmerits have been greatly over-rated by manyDescription. ^^.j-iters, whose descriptions have been compiledfrom hearsay, and not from a personal inspection,as has been my privilege. It bears no small resem-blance to a vast store, with a roof which, on account ofthe area covered, appears very low, and is supported bythree hundred and sixty-six square pillars of stone, not^ marble, as i
The land of the Moors; a comprehensive description . y inscriptions there may have been on themare hidden, f The Karueein is celebrated as the largest mosque inAfrica, but it is by no means the most magnificent. Itsmerits have been greatly over-rated by manyDescription. ^^.j-iters, whose descriptions have been compiledfrom hearsay, and not from a personal inspection,as has been my privilege. It bears no small resem-blance to a vast store, with a roof which, on account ofthe area covered, appears very low, and is supported bythree hundred and sixty-six square pillars of stone, not^ marble, as is frequently asserted. The side chapel for « These would be the emblems of the foiu- evangelists, so the last wouldbe a man, and may have been purposely obliterated. f For this most interesting piece of information the public is indebtedto Mr. Maclver MacLeod, British Vice-Consul in Fez, who obtained it bysending in a Moor able to read European characters to report, and whohas also very kindly revised this and other chapters both in Mss. A PKEP INTO THE. KARUKElN.(Moors washing feel before prayers.) Photograph by R. J. Moss, Est/. 272 FEZ services for the dead contains twenty-four more. Allthese columns support horse-shoe arches, on which theroof is built, long vistas of which are to be seen fromeach of its eighteen doors. The pillars in the main building are covered nearlyto the spring of the arches-about six feet —with yellowrush matting, which is also spread over thefloor, except in the two courts open to thesky, which are inlaid with coloured tiles. Here are theonly marble columns in the mosque : one court contain-ing sixteen, divided between two handsome porticoes ateach end, with fountains underneath; the other containingtwelve, which bring up the total number of pillars to fourhundred and eighteen. One of the marble fountains —thatat the foot of the tower—was erected in 15S8, beingbought for its weight in sugar, while the cupola overthe second fountain
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Keywords: ., bookauthormeakinbu, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1901
