College of Architecture

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 3

Islamic Architecture
Islamic Religion
Founded by Muhammad/Mohammed in the 7th century, also known to Medieval
Christianity as Mohomet
Youngest of the three monotheistic world religion. Nearest in kin to Judaism and
Christianity
Adherent to Islam is a Muslim
Islam means submission to Allah and regulates the entire life of the Muslim (one who
surrenders to faith)
It affects the totality of the lives of individual including political and social as well as
spiritual levels
Religion and social membership are inseparable and the ruler of the community is the
caliph has both the a religious and political status
Summed up in the formula of the profession of faith the Shahada declaration of belief
There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is His Ultimate Messenger/ Prophet
Sources of Islamic law:
Sharia (the right path, the beaten path)
Koran (Quran)
Sunnah (the way to conduct oneself) based on the saying and decisions
attributed to the Prophet and handed down in the hadith (tradition)
Five pillars of Islam:
The profession of faith (shahada)
Ritual Prayers (salawat) prescribed five times a day as a duty towards Allah.
Fasting in the month of Ramadan (sawm)
Obligatory payment of alms (zakah). The pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).
In place of wooden clapper or rams horn used as religious signal by the Christian and Jews,
the ringing of Bilal, an Abyssinian convert called the faithful to pray.
Muezzin- crier who summons Moslems to prayer
Moslems congregate especially on Friday, their sabbath day and were ordered to prostrate
themselves towards the Kaaba in Mecca as the shrine of Allah.
State of Islam
Islam grew at the expense of the Byzantine and Persian empires, the two greatest forces
in the Middle East.
Islam the culture is not essentially an Arabian invention. It is a compound of other
cultures ancient Semitic, Classical Greek, Medieval Indo-Persian.
At its height, the Moslem empire extended from Spain to India exceeding even the
Roman empire in its prime.
Contributions
Moslems learned the technique of making paper from the Chinese warriors they had
captured in the battle near Samarkand and eventually relayed the process to Europe
Arabic numerals were taken from India and transmitted to the Western world where they
became the standard mathematical symbols
Heritage of Classical Greece- both scientific and philosophical which has been lost to the
West for centuries was is large part returned to it through translation undertaken in
Islamic lands
6th-7th century
Many of its inhabitants were nomadic Bedouin tribesmen who lived in tents woven of
goats and camels hair subsisting on a fugal diet of dates and milk. Engrossed in blood
feuds with other tribes; sporadic raiding was their way of life.
Pre-Islamic Bedouin worshipped stones, trees and pieces of wood as the dwelling places of
spirits whom they endowed with supernatural powers. Supreme human virtue in their eyes was
manliness, expressed in the traits of loyalty, generosity and courage.
3 major towns in northern Arabia found in a mountainous section called Hijaz
1. Yathrib
2. Taif
3. Mecca

Crossroads of Commerce
Arabia was the ancient trading link between the Mediterranean and the Far East.
6th c. - trouble in Byzantine and Persian empires threatened two major trading routes to
the Persian Gulf and the Nile/Red Sea passage.
Merchants turned to the slower land routes through Mecca, which became Arabias
greatest center of trade.
Mecca
The most prosperous and important town
Site of Arabias holiest pagan shrine. The shrine situated in the center of the town was a
modest cube-shaped building known as the Kaaba. Among its religious object was a
hallowed meteorite known as the black stone, embedded in a wall in one corner.
Kaaba, 50 ft- high stone cube draped with black brocade. It only has one door a recess
containing the sacred black stone that pilgrims kiss. A colonnade shown once circled the
Kaaba. This opened on to an array of holy structures including the domed Zamzam well
and two companion storehouses, a shelter covering the footprints of Abraham and a
pulpit on its right.
HISTORICAL SEQUENCE
The development of Islamic art from the 7th to the 18th centuries may be divided into three
periods.
1. The formative period coincided roughly with the Umayyad caliphate (661-750), under
whose rule Islamic territory was extended from Damascus, in Syria, to Spain.
2. The middle period spans the time of the Abbasid caliphs (750-1258), who ruled Islam
from Baghdd, in Iraq, until the time of the Mongol conquest. This caliphate, famed for
its promotion of learning and culture, was the most illustrious in Islamic history. It was
in this middle period that the influence of Iranian art forms became significant.
3. The period from the Mongol conquest to the 18th century may, for convenience, be
termed the late period of Islamic art. Within this sequence, distinctive art styles,
associated with various dynasties of rulers, can be discerned in different parts of the
Islamic world. Besides those associated with the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties,
styles mentioned in this article include those of the

Seljuk Turks, who ruled Iran from the mid-11th century to 1157;

the Il-Khanids, a Mongol people who controlled eastern Iran from 1256 to 1349;
the Timurids, the greatest patrons of Iranian culture, who ruled western Iran
from 1378 to 1502;
the Safavids, rulers of all Iran from 1502 to 1736.
Art also flourished under the Ottoman Turks, rulers of Turkey from 1299 to
1922, who extended their empire to Egypt and Syria in the 16th century.
In Egypt (and Syria), distinctive styles were also associated with the reign of
the Fatimids (909-1171) and that of the Mamluks, who established control in
1250.

3 PAN-ISLAMIC STRUCTURES (holy places divinely endowed with special sanctity):

1. Haram (enclosure) in Mecca itself
Associated with Abraham, venerated as a holy man (hanaf) and the first Muslim
believed to have first built the Kaaba.
2. Mosque known as alMunuwwara, (The Illuminated One) of Medina, the city of the
Prophet located in western Arabia, north of Mecca
3. Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) in Jerusalem, also known as the Mosque of the City.
The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount the Noble Sanctuary and the third
holiest shrine of Islam
Associated with the mystical night journey and ascension of the Prophet Mohammad
with many biblical figure Abraham, Jacob Jesus, David and Solomon among others,
accepted as prophets by Islam

The shape of the sanctuary was determined by the platform created by Herod the Great
for the Jewish Temple, destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.

The most important buildings in the holy enclosure are:

1. Dome of the Rock
2. Aqsa Mosque
Other Restricted Sanctuaries Associated with funerary cults and always transformed into
places of pilgrimages
1. Mashahid (plural of Mashhad) place of witnessing
Example:
Shiite mashahid in Meshed and Qum, Iran
in Najaf and Kerbela, Iraq
2. Smaller funerary sanctuaries - place of burial of a holy man
Morocco and Indonesia
MOSQUE
Building associated with the presence of Islam
Churches, temples or synagogues in other religion
masjid Arabic word for mosque
Place of prostration were believers bow their heads to the ground in veneration of God
and as part of a well-defined ritual of prayer, the main action required every day of all
Muslims in order to express their faith
Space reserved for the community of believers in which they can gather to pray and to
deal with community affairs.
Used for most aspects of social and political life
The space for the collective all male Muslims was called masjid al-jami the mosque
of the community expressed as the Friday Mosque
PROTOTYPE OF AN EARLY MOSQUE
1. Minbar - a pulpit that is entered by a flight of stairs and stands next to mihrab which dates
back to the Prophet.
The imam (prayer leader) gives the Friday sermon (Khutba)
Originally a high three-stepped stool, was used for sermons, proclamations and
readings.
It acquired additional steps and seat at the top covered by a canopy
Elaborate examples with decorated side walls or carved wood or sculpted stone
Another structural detail typical of some but not all mosques is the maqqsura, a screen or
enclosure placed around the mihrab to protect the leaders of the community during services;
this structure was developed after three early caliphs were murdered.
2. Sahn - a courtyard surrounded by riwaqs, colonnaded or arcaded porticos with wells or
foundations
3. Fountain - On a more practical level, the requirement for ablution before prayer led to the
installation of fountains sometimes of considerable artistic merit, either in the courtyard of the
mosque or at the side
4. Minaret - considered the place from which the faithful are called to prayer by a muezzin.
During the first centuries of Islam it was primarily a visual beacon indicating Muslim
community or as in the Arabian sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina as possible location of a
holy place.

5. Prayer hall
Architectural Design of the Prayer Hall in three Main Forms:
Hypostyle hall where the roof was supported by parallel rows of uniform columns spaced
closely together. Common throughout Islam for the first 500 years and maintained its
pre-eminence in the Arab-speaking world
Iwan, developed in Iran, a high vaulted hall open on one side, situated in the middle of
the courtyard wall. The four-iwan mosque had an iwan on each side, with the
one facing Mecca forming an entrance to a dome-covered prayer hall. In the
15th century
15th century, the Ottoman Turks evolved a variety of mosque types where the dominant
feature was a large central dome surrounded by smaller domes and semi-domes.
6. Qibla - one of the symbolic features of the mosque is the direction of the prayer which
commemorates the presence of the Prophet.

7. Mihrab - one of the symbolic features of the mosque is found in all mosques and has become

the most decorated part of the building, most often with lamps symbolizing the divine
presence and the universality of the Muslim message
Madresahs or religious seminary was introduced in eastern Iran. Its form, based on Sassanian
architecture, was taken over into a new kind of Mosque that soon spread to many countries.
The madresah and madresah-mosque have eyvans on four sides (with a larger one in front of
the kiblah), connected by two-storey arcades.
Other Parts/Elements of the Mosque
8. Dome
Becomes a symbol of Heaven with God at the Centre.
Locus of the Divine Throne, passive to the Intellect, maternal in gender and sublimely
times in form.
In order to lighten the apparent weight of the dome, it must be covered with patterns and
colors.
9. Iwan
Large vaulted hall having one side open to the court.
Architectural form which early Muslim builders inherited from pre-Islamic Persian
architecture.
Used in mosques, but in early periods the form was used only in palaces.
10. Eivan or Portico
Have roots in the architecture of the Sassanian Iran.
Acts as a connection between the various parts of the building or as an entrance.
Symbolic effect of separating what is below from what is above through its roof and
defining a point on earth through its sides.
Open vaulted, two-storey passageway or hall was introduced into each sides of the
arcades surrounding the mosques courtyard.
10. Pointed Arch and horseshoe Arch
Probably of Syrian origin, adapted by the Umayyads, it was also characteristic of
Abbasid mosques, and from Iraq it was carried to Egypt in the 9th and 10th centuries.
Pointed arches also appear in later Egyptian mosques, built under the Mamluks from
the 13th century.

11. Muquarnas or stalactite corbel

Distinctive feature of Islamic architecture in which tiers of niches are superimposed set
into a vaulted roof or dome defying the laws of gravity. Effect is similar to a honeycomb or
to stalactites.

ARCHITECTURAL DECORATIVE ELEMENTS:

1. Stucco, patterned brickwork, and tile
Seljuks added glazed brick and tilesthe latter often lustre-painted like their pottery

The city of Kshn, Iran, specialized in the production of this ware.

Entire mihrab facings, composed of columnar bands of Koranic inscriptions, were

moulded in lustred earthenware.

Decorative wall panels were made from a mosaic of tiles in shapes, such as stars,

fitted together to form striking patterns.

Timurid architecture featured mihrab coverings of brilliant tile mosaic, in which the

2.

3.

4.

5.

individual colours were fired separately to achieve their fullest intensity. In the 15th c.,
potters from Iran, which was still an important center for ceramics, established
workshops for tile production in Turkey.
With the development of workshops at znik, the Turks had their own superb source
of tiles. In Safavid Iran, most new public buildings were sheathed in splendid tile
decoration, and many older buildings were redecorated in the same way.
Colors include gold and green; different colors were applied and fired together, rather
than separately as before.
Woodcarving and latticing,
Occasionally used in conjunction with ivory inlay, were other forms of Islamic
architectural decoration.
Used on maqqsuras, mimbars, windows, screens, doors, and various structural
elements.
Stone reliefs and marble inlays are found in buildings in Spain, Turkey, and Egypt
(from the Mamluk period).
Although not part of the building itself, mosque lamps and richly colored, intricate
prayer rugs may also be considered architectural decorations in that they transform
the atmosphere of a building by introducing light and color
Calligraphy
Considered one of the most important of the Islamic arts (role in recording the word of
God).
Surface inscription in the stone, stucco, marble, mosaic and/or painting. The
inscription might be a verse from the Koran, lines of poetry, or names and dates.
Geometry itself became a major art form, using refinement, repetition and symmetry to
create a wide variety of effects.
Star - most common Islamic design which symbolizes equal radiation in all directions
from a central point.
Tessellations - designs repeated and filled in (like patterns of bricks and many tiles)
and are interlocking, like pieces of a puzzle.
Arabesque (Arab-style) - geometricized vegetal ornament. Patterns with vines,
leaves, or flowers, and sometimes with just lines.
Floral Patterns mughal architectural decoration in Indi
Light
Symbol of divine unity.
Functions decoratively by modifying other elements or by originating patterns.

 Combination of light and shade creates strong contrasts of planes and gives texture
to sculpted stone, as well as stocked or brick surfaces
7. Water
In hot Islamic climates, water from courtyard pools and fountains cools as it
decorates.
Water can not only reflect architecture and multiply the decorative themes, it can also
serve as a means of emphasizing the visual axes.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLES:
I.

Persian Architecture
Islamic architecture borrows heavily from Persian architecture and in many ways can be
called an extension and further evolution of Persian architecture.
Persian-style mosques are characterized by their tapered brick pillars, large arcades,
and arches each supported by several pillars. In South Asia, elements of Hindu
architecture were employed, but were later superseded by Persian designs.
Example:
The Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran

II. Moorish Architecture

Construction of the Great Mosque at Cordoba beginning in 785 AD marks the beginning
of Islamic architecture in the Iberian peninsula and North Africa (see Moors).
Reached its peak with the construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress
of Granada, with its open and breezy interior spaces adorned in red, blue, and gold.
Moorish architecture has its roots deeply established in the Arab tradition of architecture
and design established during the era of the first Caliphate of the Ummayads in the
Levant circa 660AD with its capital Damascus.
Medieval Spaniards used the Mudjar style, highly influenced by Islamic design.
Examples:
Alczar of Seville
Alhambra, Granada, Spain fortified palace with a complex of buildings set in
gardens
The walls are decorated with stylize foliage motifs, Arabic inscriptions, and
arabesque design work, with walls covered in glazed tile.
Great Mosque, Cordova, Spain
Stands a one of the supreme achievements of Islamic architecture.
Begun in 785 by Apd ar-Rahman I, added by Al- Hakam in 961-968 and in
987 by Al-Mansur.
Arcades set parallel to the main axis are carried on a variety of classical
columns.
Arches are round and constructed of alternating stone and multiple brick
voussoirs.
Elaborate horseshoe and cusped arches and interlacement with secondary
bracing arches spring from their crest of their lower counterparts.
Domes were introduced, carried on interlocked squinch arches decoration
was brought to the highest level of refinement.
Used as a cathedral at present.
III. Turkistan (Timurid) Architecture
Pinnacle of Islamic art in Central Asia.
Largely derived from Persian Architecture
Spectacular and stately edifices erected by Timur and his successors in Samarkand
and Herat helped to disseminate the influence of the Ilkhanid school of art in India, thus
giving rise to the celebrated Mughal school of architecture.
Axial symmetry
Double domes of various shapes abound, and the outsides are decorated with brilliant
colors.
Examples:
Registan is the ensemble of three madrasahs, in Samarkand.
sanctuary of Ahmed Yasawi, Kazakhstan
Gur-e Amir in Samarkand Timurs mausoleum.

IV. Ottoman Turkish architecture

Numerous and largest of mosques exist in Turkey, which obtained influence from
Byzantine, Persian and Syrian-Arab designs.
Turkish architects implemented their own style of cupola domes.
Turkish Ottoman Empire forms a distinctive whole, especially the great mosques by
and in the style of Sinan, like the mid-16th c. Suleiman Mosque
For almost 500 years Byzantine architecture such as the church of Hagia Sophia
served as models for many of the Ottoman mosques
Mastered the technique of building vast inner spaces confined by seemingly weightless
yet massive domes, and achieving perfect harmony between inner and outer spaces,
as well as light and shadow.
Dynamic architectural vocabulary of vaults, domes, semidomes and columns.
The mosque was transformed from being a cramped and dark chamber with
arabesque-covered walls into a sanctuary of aesthetic and technical balance, refined
elegance and a hint of heavenly transcendence.
Examples:
Shehzade Mosque,
Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul
Suleiman Mosque, Edime, Turkey
Rstem Pasha Mosque.
Blue Mosque Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I (Sultan Ahmet Camii), Istanbul
called the Blue Mosque because of its interior tiles.
built 1603-17) is the masterwork of Ottoman architect Sedefkr Mehmet
Aga.
Built on the site of the Great Palace of Byzantium, on the southeastern
side of the Hippodrome
With 6 minarets and a great cascade of domes, the mosque is a worthy
sibling to Hagia Sophia.
V. Fatimid architecture
Followed Tulunid techniques and used similar materials, but also developed those of
their own.
Examples:
Mosque of al-Hakim (r. 9961013) - important example of Fatimid architecture
and architectural decoration, played a critical role in Fatimid ceremonial and
procession, which emphasized the religious and political role of the Fatimid
caliph.
Mosque of al-Aqmar (1125)
Emir Qurqumas complex.
Sultan Hassan Mosque
VI. Mamluk architecture
The reign of the Mamluks (1250-1517 AD) marked the flowering of Islamic art which is
most visible in old Cairo. Religious zeal made them generous patrons of architecture
and art. Trade and agriculture flourished under Mamluk rule, and Cairo, their capital,
became one of the wealthiest cities in the Near East and the center of artistic and
intellectual activity
The Mamluk utilized chiaroscuro and dappled light effects in their buildings.
Mamluk decorative arts - especially enameled and gilded glass, inlaid metalwork,
woodwork, and textiles were prized around the Mediterranean as well as in Europe,
where they had a profound impact on local production.
Examples:
Complex of Hasan (begun 1356).
Mosque of Aqbugha al-Utrush (Aleppo, 13991410)
Mosque of Sabun (Damascus, 1464)
Madrasa Jaqmaqiyya (Damascus, 1421)
Complex of Qaitbay in the Northern Cemetery, Cairo (147274) - best known
and admired structure of this period.
VII. Mughal or Indo-Islamic architecture
Fusion of Arabic, Persian and Hindu elements.
Examples:

Badshahi Masjid, literally the 'Royal Mosque' - built in 1674 by Aurangzeb. It is

one of Lahore's best known landmarks, and epitomizes the beauty and grandeur
of the Mughal era.
Royal city of Fatehpur Sikri, located 26 miles west of Agra, in the late 1500s.
Taj Mahal, Agra - built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife, represents
the pinnacle of Mughal Islamic architecture in India and is one of the most
recognizable buildings in the world.
The extensive use of precious and semiprecious stones as inlay and the
vast quantity of white marble required nearly bankrupted the empire.
completely symmetric other than Shah Jahan's sarcophagus, which is
placed off center in the crypt room below the main floor.
This symmetry extended to the building of an entire mirror mosque in red
sandstone to complement the Mecca-facing mosque place to the west of
the main structure.
Shalimar Gardens
VIII. Sino-Islamic architecture
Most mosques have certain aspects in common with each other however as with other
regions Chinese Islamic architecture reflects the local architecture in its style.
An important feature in Chinese architecture is its emphasis on symmetry, which
connotes a sense of grandeur; this applies to everything from palaces to mosques.
China is renowned for its beautiful mosques, which resemble temples. However in
western China the mosques resemble those of the Arab World, with tall, slender
minarets, curvy arches and dome shaped roofs.
In northwest China where the Chinese Hui have built their mosques, there is a
combination of eastern and western styles.
The mosques have flared Buddhist style roofs set in walled courtyards entered through
archways with miniature domes and minarets.
Some Chinese mosques in parts of western China were more likely to incorporate
minarets and domes while eastern Chinese mosques were more likely to look like
pagodas.
Example:
Great Mosque of Xi'an, China
IX. Sub-Saharan African Islamic architecture
Sahelian architecture initially grew from the two cities of Djenn and Timbuktu.
In West Africa, Islamic merchants played a vital role in the Western Sahel region since
the Kingdom of Ghana.
Examples:
Great Mosque of Djenn, Mali - great example of Sudano-Sahelian architectural
style constructed from mud on timber
Sankore Mosque, Timbuktu, also constructed from mud on timber
OTHER EXAMPLES OF ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES
I. The Umayyad Caliphate Syria and Palestine
Gateway of the Umayyad palace on the Citadel of Amman
1st half of the 8th century
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, 691-692
The Dome rises about 30 m. above the Rock.
Set about a cylindrical drum resting on four pillars with arcades between them, the sections
of each arcade rising above three columns
II. The Abbasids Caliphate Iran, Iraq and Egypt
Round City of Baghadad (Medina al-Salam)
762-766/767
Great Mosque of al-Rafiqa

Late 8th century

Constructed under the early Abbasid to serve the garrison of soldiers from Khorasan.
Massive mud-brick walls strengthened by baked brick facing and encircled by a chain of
semi-circular towers.
First example of piers used to support the roof and serves as the model for mosques at
Baghdad, Samarra and Cairo
Palace of Ukhaidir
Heart of the place is a courtyard surrounded by blind arcades.
The large barrel-vaulted hall or iwan leads from the courtyard to a square chamber, used
for audiences and private sector of the palace.
On either sides, two small courtyards are surrounded by suites of smaller rooms served
as living quarters.
Great Mosque Al-Mutawwakil, Samarra, 848-852
Samarra became the new imperial capital
Largest mosque built by Caliph al-Mutawwakil.
50 m. minaret (the Malwiya) stands outside the enclosure wall and is famous for its
spiral form.
Smooth brickwork is
characteristic of the Abbasid
architecture
Qubbat al-Sulaibiya, Samarra, 882
Tombs were another type of
building common in Samarra
although the prophet has
disapproved of marking graves
with such massive structures by
the 9th century.
Tomb of Samanids at Bukhara
Early 10th c.
Built and decorated with fine cream colored brick.
Blind arcades serves as the exterior cornice also serves to mask the transition from
square base to hemispherical dome
Each arch and pair of columns is decorated with slightly different design depicting the
mastery of the bricklaying technique and their delight in the effects of light and shadow
produced.
The interior is masterfully decorated with brick patterns also.
Particular emphasis was given to the transition between the square walls and the round
base of the dome.
Builders used the typical Iranian solution of squinch (arch thrown across the corner)
Squinch arch carries no load and are pierced with windows and are decorated with
elaborate brickwork.
Muqarnas tendency to break up the squinch into smaller parts
Tomb of Sitt Zubaida, Baghadad
1179-1125
III. The Aghlabids & Fatimids Tunisia and Egypt
The Great Mosque of Kairouan
Late 9th century

Minaret of three superimposed towers was built similar to the lighthouses and
watchtowers of classical antiquity It became a model for many North Africa Mosques.
Mihrab, the interior prayer niche adorned with perforated wall panels and vaulting is
painted with beautiful tendril ornamentation.
Side walls and front arch are faced with shimmering metallic luster tiles. Prayer hall is
divided into arcades with round arches resting on columns of Roman and Byzantine
origin.

10

Impost of carved wood or stone were fitted to the columns to compensate for the
differences in their heights.
Ceilings were plastered or painted.

Cistern in Carthage
Cisterns were part of the irrigation system found in situ and used by the Arabs when they
conquered the ancient settlements.
Ribat of Monastir, founded 796
Original plain ground plan has a square exterior wall with fortified bastions.
In the 10th c. the place was enlarged consisting of number of ribats.
Ribat Greek word for monastery, monasterion
Al -Ashar Mosque in Cairo
972
Became the center of Shiite Islam
One of the most important universities of Islamic world during the Ottoman period
Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo
990-1013
Tombs in the Aswan Necropolis
Construction of these tombs is reminiscent of the domed buildings of Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya following North Africas conversion to Islam, the name given to the territory
covered by Tunisia , eastern Algeria and part of Libya
IV. Ayyubids, Mamluks and Crusaders Syria, Palestine and Egypt
Architectural Elements
Mausoleums (turba or qubba) First part to be built and is connected usually to madrasa,
mosque or monastery (khanqa).
Cruciform four-iwan complex which was introduced to Cairo with the establishment of
the madrasas.
Constructed with regular building blocks of finely dressed stones ashlar, mostly
combined with brickwork, which was used for vaulting.
Decorative dressing of alternating courses of colored stone (ablaq technique) for
external faade usually imported from Syria.
Richly ornamented Muqarnas (stalictite or honeycomb decoration) portal marking the
entrance
Use of ornamental motifs that decorate the mihrab.
Ornamentation was complimented by carved, painted and gilded wooden ceilings,
cupboards and turned wooden lattices (mashrabiya) found inside the building.
Great Mosque of Alleppo
Early 8th century
Citadel of Alleppo
Medieval Citadel is the most imposing building which rises high above the city.
Used in pre-Islamic times as settlement and place of worship.
Best fortified military base and was renovated during the Mamluk period
Mausoleum of the Sultan Hasan
Mosque in Cairo 1356-1362
Oriented in Mecca combines a mosque and madrasa in its central four iwan complex.

Arch. Clarissa L. Avendano

Revised: AY 2008-2009

11