Great Mosque of Mahdia

Country: Tunisia

City: Mahidia

Year of construction (AH): 916

Year of construction (AD): 304

GPS: 35.503972° 11.071964°

ArchNet: https://archnet.org/sites/3767/media_contents/155

Gibson Classification: Parallel

For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here

Description:

Jami’ al- Kabir, the Great Mosque of Mahdia has gone through multiple incarnations. Originally built in 916 by Obayd Allah El-Medhi, who led a military campaign for Egypt, its qibla wall collapsed into the sea in the eleventh century and was reconstructed at a later date. The mosque was almost entirely destroyed in 1554, along with the ramparts on which it was built. Early in the eighteenth century Youssef Sahib ordered the mosque to be rebuilt with a new prayer hall, a free-standing minaret in the Moorish-Andalusian style (which never existed in the original mosque), and two courtyards flanking the main structure. A narrow courtyard was also added in front of the entrance elevation facing the city. In 1961-65, a major restoration project led by A. Lezine removed the eighteenth century additions and rebuilt the mosque according to excavations of the original Fatimid mosque. Only the parts of the elevation facing the city with the entrance portal belong to the original mosque.