Kairouan

Kairouan is one of the holy cities of Islam. Its Great Mosque is also considered an architectural masterpiece, which has influenced the style of other mosques in the Maghreb.

It has been said that seven pilgrimages to the Great Mosque of Kairouan is considered the equivalent of one pilgrimage to Mecca. Today, many consider the city as the fourth holiest in Islam.

Kairouan was founded in ca. 670 as a post in the Arab conquest of the west. Its heyday came with the Aghlabid dynasty that ruled between 800 and 909. The Aghlabids built the great mosque and established in it a university that was a centre of education both in Islamic thought and in the secular sciences. Other notable monuments of that period include the Mosque of the Threed Doors and the Basin of the Aghlabids.

Year	Decision	Comments
1988	Inscribed	Reasons for inscription

Reviews

Klaus Freisinger (Austria):
Since it is practically impossible for Westerners to visit the holy sites of Islam in Saudi Arabia, Kairouan is the closest most people can get to an introduction to the history of one of the world´s major religions. Kairouan is easy to visit from the tourist regions of the coast and certainly makes for a worthwhile trip, if only to see the really impressive Great Mosque.

Ian Cade (England):

Kairouan is the fourth holiest city in Islam, (although I have just done a little research and this may be a tad controversial!) and it is said that travelling there 7 times is the equivalent of travelling to Mecca. The most impressive site is the great Mosque with its powerful if austere minaret and columns taken from Carthage! Also impressive is the façade of the Mosque of Three Doors! Near the medina entrance is the mosque containing the well that the city was founded around which is supposedly linked to the Zamzam well in Mecca and is a site of Pilgrimage, I found it a bit odd as there was a blinkered camel turning the well in a very small space, but there are some amusing pictures of the camel going up and down the stairs that reach the site.
Kairouan is easy to get to from Sousse, either by bus or Louagge which I would recommend more as on the bus we got picked up by a tout for one of Kairouan’s many famous Carpet shops before we even arrived, and it is best to get picked up by one outside the great Mosque as their views are much better, and they will tell you their carpets are better too!!!

Igor Paulic (Croatia):
I could not find if there is anything left standing of the original structure from the 7. century. Also when was the rest on the minaret constructed if only the lowest part is from the 9. century? What additions were made after 9. century?
If you can please answer my questions.
Thank you very much in advance

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