Bab Guissa Mosque | |
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جامع باب الكيسة | |
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Religion | |
Affiliation | Sunni Islam |
Ecclesiastical or organizational status | active |
Location | |
Location | Fez,Morocco |
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Geographic coordinates | 34°04′6.5″N4°58′33″W / 34.068472°N 4.97583°W /34.068472; -4.97583 |
Architecture | |
Type | Mosque |
Style | Marinid,Alaouite,Moroccan,Islamic |
Founder | Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman |
Completed | 14th century, 18th century (restored and expanded) |
Minaret(s) | 1 |
TheBab Guissa Mosque (Arabic:جامع باب الكيسة,romanized: Jama' Bab (al-)Gisa) is a medievalmosque in northernFes el-Bali, the old city ofFez,Morocco. It is located next to thecity gate of the same name, and also features an adjoiningmadrasa.
Based on an inscription on one of its marble columns, the mosque is thought to originate from the 14th century, during the reign of theMarinid sultanAbu al-Hasan (1331-1351), though there is not much available information.[1][2] In the late 18th century, the Alaouite sultanMohammed ibn Abdallah (1757-1790 CE) built an adjoiningmadrasa while also restoring and expanding the mosque itself.[2] The mosque was reportedly heavily restored and modified at the end of the 19th century as well.[1]
The mosque is named after the nearbyBab Guissa, a city gate which was in turn named after the 11th-centuryZenata princeal-Guissa ibn Dounas [ar] (عجيسة بن دوناس) who built the original gate by this name.[2]
The mosque occupies a space of about 1440square meters[3] and is located just inside the northern city gate called Bab Guissa. This is a relatively elevated position compared to the rest ofFes el-Bali, and as a result the mosque'sminaret is prominent on the northern skyline of themedina (historic city).[1] The minaret is plain and mostly undecorated. On the mosque's eastern side, next to the base of the minaret, is the mosque's main entrance. The gateway is decorated with typical Moroccan motifs including interlacing semi-circles around the doorway's arch and a larger square frame with a band ofdarj-w-ktaf orsebka (a pattern with shapes similar topalmettes orfleur-de-lys). Above the door is a carved and painted wooden canopy, also characteristic of traditional Moroccan architecture. Next to this entrance, and adjoining the city wall, is a small outdoor gallery with wall fountains forablutions (ritual washing before prayer), decorated with mosaic tiles (zellij) ingeometric patterns as well as tiles painted witharabesques andArabic calligraphy.
The interior of the mosque is dominated by a relatively large courtyard orsahn, surrounded by galleries on three sides and by the main prayer hall on its southeastern side, all marked by large, slightly pointedhorseshoe arches which are typical of medieval Moroccan mosques. The courtyard has a typical central fountain, but is also shaded by severalfig trees, a much less typical feature.[1] The main prayer hall is short and only two rows deep. The wall around themihrab (i.e. a niche on theqibla wall indicating the direction of prayer) is richly decorated with carvedstucco and, in its top portion, a row ofstained glass windows with grilles of geometric patterns.[4]
Behind the prayer hall (to the south or southeast) and attached but secluded from the rest of the mosque is an interior prayer space (of similar size to the main prayer hall) used only forfunerary rites and forprayers over the bodies of the deceased before burial.[2] This type of annex to a mosque, called aJama al-Gna'iz ("Funeral Mosque" or Mosque of the Dead) is not common to all mosques in the Islamic world, but similar annexes are attached to theQarawiyyin Mosque and theChrabliyine Mosque in Fes.[5][6] It is designed to be separate from the main mosque so as to maintain the purity of the latter as a regular prayer space (which by religious principle must not be soiled by unclean things, which would include dead bodies).[5] This part of the mosque is accessed by another monumental portal on the south side of the complex, decorated with a radiating or semi-circular geometric pattern reminiscent ofAlmohad and Marinid gates.[4] Since the Bab Guissa cemetery is located just outside the nearby city gate, it is likely that the mosque was well-situated to offer this type of service.[original research?]
Adjacent to the mosque is the 18th-centurymadrasa (for religious studies) built by sultanMohammed ibn Abdallah (ruled 1757–1790).[2][7]: 28 It is accessed through a door in the mosque's northern wall, but the building is located on the mosque's western or southwestern side. It is roughly the same length of the mosque but only half as wide. It consists of a two-story gallery around a long courtyard of 22 meters by 4.8 meters with a central fountain.[2] Aside from the floor of the courtyard, which is paved with simplezellij mosaic tiles, this madrasa is essentially undecorated (in contrast with more famous madrasas in the city like the much older (14th century)Bou Inania Madrasa or the slightly more contemporary (17th century) Cherratine Madrasa). Today, the courtyard is also covered with modern light roof to keep out the rain. The galleries give access to the sleeping cells of the students.[2]
Seminars were conducted in the madrasa, and the mosque itself also hosted two teaching chairs (i.e. professors). At the beginning of the 20th century the madrasa housed 40-60 students, mostly from the nearby mountain regions of Morocco. It is still in use today.[2]