Topic: Moorish art and architecture

Moorish art and architecture branch of Islamic art and architecture developed in the westernmost lands of the Muslims, known as the Maghreb: N Africa and Spain. The Great Mosque at Al Qayrawan in Tunisia is the prototype of western Islamic religious edifices. Finished in the 9th cent., it comprised a large court surrounded by galleries and opening into a prayer room in the form of a hypostyle hall; the 9th-century mihrab is famed for its luster tile decorations. Another early monument is the Great Mosque at Córdoba (785-c.1000), begun by the Umayyad emir Abd ar-rahman i , who had... Read more