Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

KAIRAWAN (KEROUAN)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 636 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

KAIRAWAN (KEROUAN) , the " sacred " See also:city of See also:Tunisia, 36 m. S. by W. by See also:rail from See also:Susa, and about 8o m. due S. from the See also:capital. Kairawan is built in an open See also:plain a little See also:west of a stream which flows See also:south to the Sidi-el-Hani See also:lake. Of the luxuriant gardens and See also:olive groves mentioned in the See also:early Arabic accounts of the See also:place hardly a remnant is See also:left. Kairawan, in shape an irregular oblong, is surrounded by a crenellated See also:brick See also:wall with towers and bastions and five See also:gates. The city, however, spreads beyond the walls, chiefly to the south and west. Some of the finest treasures of Saracenic See also:art in Tunisia are in Kairawan; but the city suffered greatly from the vulgarization which followed the See also:Turkish See also:conquest, and also from the blundering attempts of the See also:French to restore buildings falling into ruin. The streets have been paved and planted with trees, but the See also:town retains much of its See also:Oriental aspect. The houses are built See also:round a central courtyard, and See also:present nothing but See also:bare walls to the See also:street. The See also:chief buildings are the mosques, which are open to Christians, Kairawan being the only town in Tunisia where this See also:privilege is granted. In the See also:northern See also:quarter stands the See also:great See also:mosque founded by Sidi Okba See also:ibn Nafi, and containing his See also:shrine and the tombs of many rulers of Tunisia. To the outside it presents a heavy buttressed wall, with little of either grandeur or See also:grace.

It consists of three parts: a cloistered See also:

court, from which rises the massive and stately See also:minaret, the maksura or mosque proper, and the See also:vestibule. The maksura is a rectangular domed chamber divided by 296 See also:marble and See also:porphyry columns into 17 aisles, each See also:aisle having 8 See also:arches. The central aisle is wider than the others, the columns being arranged by threes. All the columns are See also:Roman or See also:Byzantine, and are the spoil of many See also:ancient cities. See also:Access to the central aisle is gained through a See also:door of sculptured See also:wood known as the Beautiful See also:Gate. It has an inscription with the See also:record of its construction. The walls are of painted See also:plaster-See also:work; the mimbar or See also:pulpit is of carved wood, each See also:panel bearing a different See also:design. The court is surrounded by a See also:double See also:arcade with coupled columns. In all the mosque contains 439 columns, including two of See also:alabaster given by one of the Byzantine emperors. To the See also:Mahommedan mind the crowning distinction of the See also:building is that through divine See also:inspiration the founder was enabled to set it absolutely true to See also:Mecca. The mosque of Sidi Okba is the prototype of many other notable mosques (see MOSQUE). Of greater See also:external beauty than that of Sidi Okba is the mosque of the Three Gates.

Cufic See also:

inscriptions on the See also:facade record its erection in the 9th and its restoration in the 15th See also:century A.D. Internally the mosque is a single chamber supported by sixteen Roman columns. One of the finest specimens of Moorish See also:architecture in Kairawan is the zawia of Sidi Abid-el-Ghariani (d. c. A.D. 1400), one of the See also:Almoravides, in whose See also:family is the hereditary governorship of the city. The entrance, a door in a false arcade of See also:black and See also:white marble, leads into a court whose arches support an upper See also:colonnade. The town contains many other notable buildings, but none of such importance as the mosque of the See also:Companion (i.e. of the See also:Prophet), outside the walls to the N.W. This mosque is specially sacred as possessing what are said to be three hairs of the Prophet's See also:beard, buried with the See also:saint, who was one of the companions of See also:Mahomet. (This See also:legend gave rise to the See also:report that the See also:tomb contained the remains of Mahomet's See also:barber.) The mosque consists of several courts and See also:chambers, and contains some beautiful stained See also:glass. The court which forms the entrance to the shrine of the saint is richly adorned with tiles and plaster-work, and is surrounded by an arcade of white marble columns, supporting a painted wooden roof. The minaret is faced with tiles and is surmounted by a gilded See also:crescent. The 19th-century mosque of Sidi Amar Abada, also outside the wall, is in the See also:form of a See also:cross and is crowned with seven cupolas.

In the suburbs are huge cisterns, attributed to the 9th century, which still See also:

supply the city with See also:water. The See also:cemetery covers a large See also:area and has thousands of Cufic and Arabic inscriptions. Formerly famous for its carpets and its oil of See also:roses, Kairawan is now known in northern See also:Africa rather for See also:copper vessels, articles in See also:morocco See also:leather, potash and See also:saltpetre. The town has a See also:population of about 20,000, including a few See also:hundred Europeans. Arab historians relate the See also:foundation of Kairawan by Okba with miraculous circumstances (See also:Tabari ii. 63; Yaqut iv. 213). The date is variously given (see Weil, Gesch. d. Chalifen, i. 283 seq.) ; according to Tabari it must have been before 67o. The legend says that Okba determined to found a city which should be a rallying-point for the followers of Mahomet in Africa. He led his companions into the See also:desert, and having exhorted the serpents and See also:wild beasts, in the name of the Prophet, to retire, he struck his See also:spear into the ground exclaiming " Here is your Kairawan " (resting-place), so naming the city.' In the 8th century Kairawan was the capital of the See also:province of Ifrikia governed by amirs appointed by the caliphs.

Later it became the capital of the Aghlabite princes, thereafter following the fortunes of the successive rulers of the See also:

country (see TUNISIA: See also:History). After Mecca and See also:Medina Kairawan is the most sacred city in the eyes of the Mahommedans of Africa, and See also:constant pilgrimages are made to its shrines. Until the See also:time of the French occupation no See also:Christian was allowed to pass through the gates without a See also:special permit from the See also:bey, whilst See also:Jews were altogether forbidden to approach the See also:holy city. Contrary to expectation no opposition was offered by the citizens to the occupation of the place by the French troops in 1881. On that occasion the native troops hastened to the mosques to perform their devotions; they were followed by See also:European soldiers, and the mosques having thus been " violated " have remained open ever since to non-Mahommedans. See See also:Murray's Handbook to See also:Algeria and See also:Tunis, by See also:Sir R. L. See also:Playfair (1895) ; A. M. Broadley, The Last Punic See also:War: Tunis Past and Present (1882) and H. See also:Saladin, Tunis et Kairouan (1908).

End of Article: KAIRAWAN (KEROUAN)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
KAIRA, or KIIEDA 		[next]
KAISERSLAUTERN

Site © 2006 - Net Industries