Kairouan day trip from Sousse.

Meeting Point

The Great Mosque of Kairouan

It is undoubtedly the oldest Islamic religious building erected in the Muslim West. It was in 670, during the first campaign for the annexation of Ifriqiya to the nascent Muslim Empire. After having chosen, at the edge of the mountainous foothills of the north of the country, the location of the "cantonment" - al qayrawân - in which he installed his troops in the wake of a first victorious offensive, General Okba Ibn Nafaa hastened to erect there a seat for the government of the Ifriqiyenne province and an oratory in mud bricks which, in the ninth century, after several redevelopments and with a few details, will appear under the appearance that we know today at the Great Mosque . A singular monument, that this Great Mosque of Kairouan whose perfect harmony perfectly hides an architectural "synchretism" unique in its kind. The materials which were used for its construction all come, indeed, from ancient sites belonging to various times before the Islamic conquest, while the general appearance of the building, in particular, the minaret, reflects a distant oriental influence. The whole forms an original whole, with sober features but not devoid of elegance. As for interior decoration, we must speak of exuberance: a real explosion of geometric and floral patterns carved in fine marble that decorates the facade of the mihrâb, the niche that indicates the direction of Mecca, or engraved in the panels of precious woods that make up the minbar, pulpit for preaching.