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 Fès

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digital photograph

Al Qaraouiyine Rehabilitation

place

gate

Morocco

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unknown

IMG27344

Bab Segma

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IMG27345

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IMG27346

باب السيكمة‎

Original

Segma Gate

Translated

North African Berber dynasty which ruled over much of North Africa, Spain and parts of sub-Saharan West Africa.<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" width="100%"><tbody><tr> <th> </th></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Almohads originated from the Atlas mountains of 
Morocco and were led by a religious leader who preached moral reform. 
They defeated the ruling dynasty of the&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/timelines/48/period/Almoravid/year/1053">Almoravids</a>&nbsp;and established the 
greatest empire of the western Islamic world. In 1170/565 AH the capital was 
moved to&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3944">Seville</a>&nbsp;from where resistance to the Christian reconquest could
 be organized.&nbsp;City walls are equally demonstrative symbols of Almohad ideology 
with stepped crenellations and decorated gateway facades. The best 
examples of Almohad fortifications are the city gates at&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3900">Rabat</a>&nbsp;with 
their complex bent entrances and monumental facades decorated with 
cusped arches.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Almohad architecture is characterized by its mosques and 
fortifications. The most notable feature of Almohad mosques are the 
large minaret towers which dominate the great mosques of&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3944">Seville</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3820">Marakesh</a>&nbsp;and Rabat. Under their predecessors, the Almoravids, minarets 
were thought to be inappropriate and were left out of mosque designs. 
The Almohads were responsible for reintroducing the minaret, first in a 
tentative form, as in the&nbsp;minaret of&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/sites/1745">Timnal</a>&nbsp;where it is a low tower 
behind the mihrab, and later in a monumental form. The design varied 
from one tower to another but the basic form was a square shaft 
containing a central core with a vaulted room on each storey. The 
exterior was usually decorated with windows set within frames made of 
cusped arches which formed networks of lozenge shapes. The form of these
 minarets established a tradition which was followed in mosques of the 
fourteenth century and later.
 Petersen, Andrew.&nbsp;Dictionary of Islamic Architecture.&nbsp;London and New York: Routledge, 1999.

Bab SegmaFès, Morocco

Bab Segma
Fès, Morocco