Minaret of Agadir
Tlemcen, Algeria

This monument is located in the old city of Agadir, the cradle of the city of Tlemcen during the Idrisids, and the site of an ancient Roman camp called Pomaria.

It was erected by Yaghmorasan lbn Zayan, around 1280, on the location of an ancient mosque built by the Idrissids called al-Jamaa al-Atiq. From this mosque, only a few archaeological remnants left, crossed nowadays by a modern road.

The minaret is a square-based tower with a lantern. It stands isolated a few meters from the modern road. It rests on six meters high cut stones borrowed from Roman buildings of ancient Pomaria. Latin inscriptions are still visible on some of these stones. 

The rest of the minaret is made of brick, rising to a height of about 26 meters. The decoration varies on the four sides so that the two adjacent sides are decorated differently and the two opposite sides are identical. Nevertheless, the four sides of the minaret are all decorated with diamond patterns (either with trilobed arches or lambrequin arches), resting on two arches. An upper frieze is formed by five arches and surmounted by merlons. The square-based lantern is covered with lobed arches and zellij.

Location

Tlemcen, Algeria

Images & Videos

Associated Names

Associated Collections

Events

ca. 1280

Style Periods

1235-1555

Dimensions

Height 25.6 m

Variant Names

مئذنة أكادير
Minaret d'Agadir

Site Types

religious

Materials/Techniques

Keywords