Great Mosque of Sousse, Aghlabid mosque in Medina of Sousse, Tunisia
The Great Mosque of Sousse, also known as Gran Mezquita de Susa, is a mosque from the Aghlabid period in the Medina of Sousse, Tunisia, enclosed by crenellated walls and corner towers around a rectangular courtyard. The prayer hall faces the courtyard and has barrel-vaulted ceilings held up by rows of columns inside.
The mosque was built in 851 under Abu al-Abbas Muhammad al-Aghlabi, when the Aghlabid dynasty was consolidating its hold over Ifriqiya. The ruling family governed as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate and used buildings like this to assert its authority in the region.
The prayer hall is divided into 13 naves separated by horseshoe arches, a form closely associated with early Islamic architecture in North Africa. This row of arches and columns creates a steady rhythm that draws the eye from one end of the hall to the other.
The mosque sits inside the UNESCO World Heritage Medina of Sousse and can be reached on foot from several streets in the old city. Visitors are generally able to enter the courtyard and view the prayer hall from the outside, without going into the areas reserved for worship.
The mosque was never given its own minaret, and the tower of the neighboring Ribat fortress served instead as the place from which the call to prayer was made. This linked the two buildings into a single working arrangement that was uncommon for mosques of this period.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
