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Almohad Caliphate
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=== Architecture === [[File:Marrakesh, Morocco (8999234830).jpg|thumb|The [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] in [[Marrakesh]], founded by [[Abd al-Mu'min]] in 1147]] [[File:Bab Oudaia2.jpg|thumb|The ceremonial main gate of the [[Kasbah of the Udayas]] (in [[Rabat]]), added to the fortress by [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in the late 1190s]]{{Main|Almohad architecture}} Along with the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid]] period preceding it, the Almohad period is considered one of the most formative stages of [[Moroccan architecture|Moroccan]] and [[Moorish architecture]], establishing many of the forms and motifs that were refined in subsequent centuries.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=258–260}}<ref name=":12"/>{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=276 and after}}<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Basset|first1=Henri|title=Sanctuaires et forteresses almohades|last2=Terrasse|first2=Henri|publisher=Larose|year=1932|location=Paris}}</ref> The main sites of Almohad architecture and art include [[Fes, Morocco|Fes]], [[Marrakech|Marrakesh]], [[Rabat]] and [[Seville]].<ref>''Le muse'', De Agostini, Novara, 1964, Vol. I pp. 152–153</ref> In general, Almohad architecture was built mostly in [[rammed earth]] and [[brick]] rather than stone. These two materials were relatively cheap, readily available at most sites, and already widely used in the preceding centuries.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=195–196}} Almohad architects refined both the manufacturing process of these materials and their on-site assembly, making the execution of numerous and ambitious construction projects possible. According to scholar Felix Arnold, during the Almohad period "construction became an industry on a scale not seen since [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times."{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|p=196}} Compared to the earlier Almoravid period and the [[Taifa]]s or [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Caliphal]] period in [[al-Andalus]], early Almohad architecture was much more restrained in its ornamentation, focusing its attention on overall architectural forms rather than on detailed surface decoration.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=228–231}}{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|p=196}} In addition to continuing the integration of Moroccan and Andalusi artistic traditions, some currents in Almohad architecture may also reflect influences from [[Algeria]] and [[Tunisia]] ([[Ifriqiya]]). Some Almohad elements, such as [[Multifoil arch|polylobed arches]], have their earliest precedents in [[Fatimid architecture]] in Ifriqiya and [[Egypt]] and had also appeared in Andalusi architecture such as the [[Aljafería|Aljaferia palace]]. In the Almohad period, this type of arch was further refined for decorative functions while [[horseshoe arch]]es continued to be standard elsewhere.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=232–234}} The decoration around ''[[mihrab]]'' arches inside mosques also evolved into richer and more monumental forms in the great ceremonial stone gates of Almohad architecture such as [[Bab Agnaou]] in Marrakesh and [[Bab Oudaia]] and [[Bab er-Rouah]] in Rabat. These gates employed varying decorative motifs arranged in concentric semi-circles around the arch of the gate, all of which was in turn framed inside an outer rectangular band with other motifs.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=243–244}}<ref name=":12" /> This style remained evident in [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid]] gateways (e.g. the main gate of [[Chellah]]) and in later Moroccan gateways.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=319, 328, 338, 347}} The Almohad [[Kutubiyya Mosque|Kutubiyya]] and [[Tinmal Mosque|Tinmal]] mosques are often considered the prototypes of later Moroccan and Andalusi mosques,<ref name=":12" />{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=201 and after}} although the [[Great Mosque of Taza]] (later modified by the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]]) is the oldest surviving Almohad mosque (begun in 1142).{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=121}} Like earlier mosques in the region, Almohad mosques have interiors consisting of large [[hypostyle]] halls divided by rows of arches that create a repetitive visual effect. However, the aisle or "nave" leading towards the ''mihrab'' (niche symbolizing the ''[[qibla]]'' in the southern/southeastern wall) and the aisle running along the qibla wall itself were usually wider than the others and were highlighted with distinctive arches and greater decoration. This layout, already present in Almoravid mosques, is often referred to as the "T-plan" by art historians (because the aisle running parallel to the ''qibla'' wall and the aisle leading to the ''mihrab'', perpendicular to it, form a "T" shape), and became standard in mosques of the region for centuries.{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=|pp=10, 128, 183}} The [[minaret]]s of Almohad mosques also established the standard form and style of subsequent minarets in the region, with a square base and two-tiered shaft covered in polylobed arch and ''[[darj wa ktaf]]'' motifs. The minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]] of Marrakesh was particularly influential and set a style that was repeated, with minor elaborations, in the following Marinid period.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Deverdun|first=Gaston|title=Marrakech: Des origines à 1912|publisher=Éditions Techniques Nord-Africaines|year=1959|location=Rabat}}</ref>{{Sfn|Marçais|1954}}<ref name=":12" /> The most famous minarets of this time, however, are the minarets of the Kutubiyya Mosque (begun in 1147 by [[Abd al-Mu'min]] but subsequently rebuilt before 1195<ref name=":22" />), the [[Giralda]] of Seville (part of a Great Mosque begun in 1171 by [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf|Abu Ya'qub Yusuf]]), and the unfinished "[[Hassan Tower]]" of Rabat (part of a huge mosque begun by [[Yaqub, Almohad Caliph|Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in 1191 but never completed).{{Sfn|Marçais|1954}}<ref name=":12" />{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=312–323}}{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=121|pp=128–133, 137–141}} The Almohads were also prolific builders of fortifications and forts across their realm. They were responsible for building (or rebuilding) the [[Defensive wall|city walls]] of Cordoba, [[Walls of Seville|Seville]], [[Fortifications of Fez|Fes]], and [[Taza]], as well as many smaller forts and castles across Morocco and southern Spain and Portugal.{{Sfn|Marçais|1954|pp=220–225}} In Rabat, Abd al-Mu'min built most of the current [[Kasbah of the Udayas]] in 1150–1151 (after having destroyed an earlier Almoravid ''[[ribat]]'' there), while Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur embarked on the construction of a vast new capital and citadel on its south side called ''Ribat al-Fath'' (for which the enormous unfinished mosque of the Hassan Tower was also intended). While never finished, this project created the current outer walls of the historic center of Rabat, along with multiple gates such as Bab er-Rouah and the ceremonial main gate of the Kasbah of the Udayas.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=309–10, 322–25}} Al-Mansur also created the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]], a large royal citadel and palace complex to house the caliph's family and administration. The main public entrance of this kasbah was the ornamental gate of Bab Agnaou.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=320, 324}} In Seville, the Almohads built the [[Torre del Oro]], a defensive tower on the shores of the [[Guadalquivir|Guadalquivir River]] which dates from 1220 to 1221 and remains a landmark of the city today.{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=|pp=325–326}} Likewise, the [[Calahorra Tower]] in Cordoba is believed to be an originally Almohad structure designed to defend the river and the city's [[Roman bridge of Córdoba|old bridge]].{{Sfn|Bennison|2016|p=326}} The Almohad caliphs also constructed multiple country estates just outside the main cities where they resided, continuing a tradition that existed under the Almoravids.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=196–212}} The best-known examples of these estates were centered around large water basins or reservoirs that sustained orchards of fruit trees and other plants. Some of them are referred to as ''al-Buḥayra'' ("little sea") in Arabic sources, likely in reference to these artificial lakes. Small palaces or pleasure pavilions were built on the edge of the reservoirs. In Marrakesh, the present-day [[Agdal Gardens|Agdal]] and [[Menara gardens|Menara]] gardens both developed from such Almohad creations. In Seville, the remains of the [[Buhaira Gardens|''al-Buḥayra'' garden]], founded in 1171, were excavated and partly restored in the 1970s. A similar garden estate was also created in Rabat but has not been found by archaeologists.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=196–212}} The [[Alcázar Genil]] (originally called ''al-Qaṣr as-Sayyid'') in Granada, created in the late Almohad period and later remodeled by the Nasrids, stood next to an enormous pool on the outskirts of the city.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=239–240}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rėklaitytė |first=Ieva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=461 |language=en |chapter=The Rumor of Water: A Key Element of Moorish Granada}}</ref> A small ribat, consisting of a square hall covered by a sixteen-sided dome on [[squinch]]es, was built nearby at the same time and has been preserved today as a Christian [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orihuela |first=Antonio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBhREAAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Islamic Granada |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |isbn=978-90-04-42581-1 |editor-last=Boloix-Gallardo |editor-first=Bárbara |pages=421–424 |language=en |chapter=From the Private to the Public Space: Domestic and Urban Architecture of Islamic Granada}}</ref> Sunken gardens were also part of Almohad palace architecture. In some cases the gardens were divided symmetrically into four parts, much like a ''[[Riad (architecture)|riyad]]'' garden. Examples of these have been found in several courtyards in the [[Alcázar of Seville]], where former Almohad palaces once stood.{{Sfn|Arnold|2017|pp=199–210}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilbaux |first=Quentin |title=La médina de Marrakech: Formation des espaces urbains d'une ancienne capitale du Maroc |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=2001 |isbn=2-7475-2388-8 |location=Paris |pages=70–71 |language=fr}}</ref> <gallery class="center"> File:المسجد الأعظم تينمل 7.jpg|[[Mihrab]] of the [[Tinmal Mosque|Great Mosque of Tinmal]] File:La Giralda, Seville, Spain - Sep 2009.jpg|La [[Giralda]], the former [[minaret]] of the [[Seville Cathedral|Great Mosque of Seville]], built during the Almohad period File:Patio del Yeso (Pórtico). Reales Alcázares de Sevilla.jpg|The south [[portico]] of the Patio del Yeso of the [[Alcázar of Seville]], built during the Almohad period File:Palacio de los Jardines de la Buhaira (5000018808).jpg|Reservoir of the [[Buhaira Gardens|''al-Buḥayra'' gardens]] in Seville, with remains of palace structure behind it (partly occupied by later building) File:La tour Hassan - Photo de Abdellatif AMAJGAG.jpg|[[Hassan Tower]] in [[Rabat]]: an incomplete minaret intended for an enormous mosque begun by [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur|Ya'qub al-Mansur]] in the 1190s File:باب الرواح.jpg|[[Bab er-Rouah|Bab Ruwah]] ('Gate of the Winds') in Rabat File:Marrakesh Kasbah Mosque minaret 2.jpg|The minaret of the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]] (or Al-Mansuriyya Mosque) in the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]] File:Marrakech (40898386293).jpg|[[Bab Agnaou]], the original public entrance to the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]] File:Safi minaret.png|The Almohad minaret in [[Safi, Morocco|Safi]] File:Torre del Oro flag Seville Spain.jpg|The [[Torre del Oro]] in [[Seville]] File:Cordoue - Tour de la Calahorra 2.JPG|[[Calahorra Tower]] in [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]] </gallery>
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