Grande Mosquée de KoroKoro, Mali
Koro is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali at the far edge of the plain east of the Bandiagara cliffs. The old Friday Mosque of Koro is situated on the town's main north-south route, near its junction with Route Nationale 15. This mosque, which exemplifies the historic local style of mosque architecture, is not to be confused with the city's newer Great Mosque, executed in an imported style. The mosque was built in 1964.
The mosque consists of two structures: a monumental, rectangular prayer hall measuring 27 x 16.3 meters and a squat, rectangular courtyard oriented perpendicular to the prayer hall that adjoins it on its west side. The prayer hall's soaring exterior facades are richly decorated. On its east (qibla) side, a large central tower marks the mihrab, and two smaller towers mark the north and south ends of the wall. Between them rise two stunted "towers" created by buttresses placed close together. The end towers and mihrab tower feature projecting wooden beams (toron) placed at even intervals from close to the bottom to the top. The three towers of the qibla wall are mirrored on the hall's western facade facing the street, onto which the courtyard has been built. Here, three towers with a stepped structure mark the center and two ends of the facade. The towers are decorated with clusters of pierced apertures. Between the towers, rows of sunken panels in the form of niches further articulate the facade. The courtyard's walls are plain except for several windows. A tin roof covers part of this courtyard.
The interior of the prayer hall is divided into six transverse aisles separated by five rows of four columns. A stairwell in the southwestern corner of the hall gives access to the roof.
Sources:
Gruner, Dorothee. Die Lehm-Moschee am Niger, 322-323. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1990.
Koro is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali at the far edge of the plain east of the Bandiagara cliffs. The old Friday Mosque of Koro is situated on the town's main north-south route, near its junction with Route Nationale 15. This mosque, which exemplifies the historic local style of mosque architecture, is not to be confused with the city's newer Great Mosque, executed in an imported style. The mosque was built in 1964.
The mosque consists of two structures: a monumental, rectangular prayer hall measuring 27 x 16.3 meters and a squat, rectangular courtyard oriented perpendicular to the prayer hall that adjoins it on its west side. The prayer hall's soaring exterior facades are richly decorated. On its east (qibla) side, a large central tower marks the mihrab, and two smaller towers mark the north and south ends of the wall. Between them rise two stunted "towers" created by buttresses placed close together. The end towers and mihrab tower feature projecting wooden beams (toron) placed at even intervals from close to the bottom to the top. The three towers of the qibla wall are mirrored on the hall's western facade facing the street, onto which the courtyard has been built. Here, three towers with a stepped structure mark the center and two ends of the facade. The towers are decorated with clusters of pierced apertures. Between the towers, rows of sunken panels in the form of niches further articulate the facade. The courtyard's walls are plain except for several windows. A tin roof covers part of this courtyard.
The interior of the prayer hall is divided into six transverse aisles separated by five rows of four columns. A stairwell in the southwestern corner of the hall gives access to the roof.
Sources:
Gruner, Dorothee. Die Lehm-Moschee am Niger, 322-323. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1990.