KAIROUAN GRAND MOSQUE

The first mosque in the Western Muslim world, the Great Mosque of Kairouan, or Sidi Okba Mosque, was built around 680 by the city's founder. Rebuilt three times, in 695, 774 and 836, it was enlarged in 862 and again in 875, before finally adopting an Aghlabid architecture more reminiscent of a fortress. A place of learning, the mosque attracted intellectuals from all over the Arab world. The mosque's unique exterior - its ochre brickwork appears lustrous - was brilliantly restored in 1962. Set amid the ramparts, its vast marble-paved courtyard features a sundial indicating prayer times, as well as a rain collector for the faithful's ablutions. The courtyard floor is marked by a multitude of holes designed to filter rainwater and channel it to underground cisterns.

Like all primitive mosques, the Sidi Okba mosque consists of a prayer room, called " beit es Salât ", and a courtyard, " sahn ". The prayer hall is rectangular and basilica-shaped, and closely resembles that of the El Aqsâ mosque. Both have naves set at right angles to the back wall, following the layout of Christian basilicas. Despite being built in several stages, this superb edifice offers a beautiful unity. The columns that surround it (there are over 400 of them!), in pink or black marble, come in part from various ancient ruins in the country, including Carthage. There's also a mihrab, a niche set against the back wall and indicating the direction of Mecca, decorated with ^9th-century earthenware tiles brought from Baghdad. The minbar, the preaching pulpit where the imam stands, is also an admirable piece of carved cedar from Mesopotamia. The mosque's courtyard comprises three galleries. Paved with stone, it offers the best angle from which to admire the massive, square, three-storey minaret. The upper tower ends in a cupola. The frame of the minaret door is carved in stone, remarkable for the richness and beauty of its motifs. The steps inside the minaret are all ancient tombstones from Christian cemeteries. The symphony of columns and capitals in the prayer hall, the arabesques of the bas-reliefs, the gilding of the mihrab, the purity of the crystal chandeliers: these masterpieces make the Great Mosque one of the most beautiful monuments in the Muslim world.