Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mosques
Even small villages may have more than one mosque, built on prime real estate in town
centres with one wall facing Mecca. Mosques provide moments of sublime serenity in
chaotic cities and on busy village market days, and even non-Muslims can sense their
calming influence. Towering minarets not only aid the acoustics of the call to prayer, but
provide a visible reminder of God and community that puts everything else - minor spats,
dirty dishes, office politics - back in perspective.
Mosques in Morocco are closed to non-Muslims, with two exceptions that couldn't be
more different: Casablanca's sprawling Hassan II Mosque and austere Tin Mal Mosque
nestled in the High Atlas. The Hassan II Mosque was completed in 1993 by French archi-
tect Michel Pinseau with great fanfare and considerable controversy: with room for 25,000
worshippers under a retractable roof and a 210m-high laser-equipped minaret, the total cost
has been estimated at €585 million, not including maintenance or restitution to low-income
former residents moved to accommodate the structure (the cases are still apparently
pending). At the other end of the aesthetic spectrum is the elegant simplicity of Tin Mal
Mosque, built in 1156 to honour the Almohads' strict spiritual leader, Mohammed ibn Tu-
mart, with cedar ceilings and soaring arches that lift the eye and the spirits ever upward.
Muslims assert that no Moroccan architecture surpasses buildings built for the glory of
God, especially mosques in the ancient Islamic spiritual centre of Fez. With walls and ablu-
tions fountains covered in lustrous green and white Fassi
zellij
(ceramic tile mosaic), and
mihrabs (niches indicating the direction of Mecca) swathed in stucco and marble, Fez
mosques are purpose-built for spiritual glory. When vast portals are open between prayers,
visitors can glimpse (no photos allowed) Fez' crowning glory: Kairaouine Mosque and
Medersa, founded in the 8th century by a Fassi heiress. Non-Muslims can also see Mo-
rocco's most historic
minbar
(pulpit): the 12th-century Koutoubia
minbar,
inlaid with sil-
ver, ivory and marquetry by Cordoba's finest artisans, and housed in Marrakesh's Badi
Palace.
