The El-Oued Mosque (Arabic: جامع الواد, romanized: jama' al-wad, lit. 'mosque of the river'; Berber languages: ⵎⴻⵣⴳⵉⴷⴰ ⵏ ⵊⴰⵎⵄⵍⵡⴰⴷ) is a mosque in Fes el-Bali, the historic medina of Fes, Morocco. It was built in the late 18th or early 19th century on the site of a former 14th-century madrasa by the same name.
| El-Oued Mosque | |
|---|---|
 The entrance and minaret of the mosque. | |
| Religion | |
| Sect | (Maliki) Sunni |
| Location | |
| Location | Fes, Morocco |
| Geographic coordinates | 34°03′45.6″N 4°58′9.7″W / 34.062667°N 4.969361°W |
| Architecture | |
| Type | mosque |
| Style | Alaouite, Moroccan, Islamic |
| Founder | Sultan Abu Sa'id Uthman II (as madrasa), Sultan Moulay Slimane (as mosque) |
| Date established | 1323 CE (as madrasa), between 1792 and 1822 (as mosque) |
| Minaret(s) | 1 |
History
edit
The mosque is located on the site of the former Madrasa el-Oued or (Madrasa al-Wadi), a madrasa built in 1321[1] or 1323 by the Marinid sultan Abu Sa'id Uthman II.[2] The madrasa's name ("Mosque of the River") referred to the fact that it was located on top of the Oued Masmouda, a water canal branching off the Oued Fes river system which historically supplied water to much of the Andalus quarter of Fes el-Bali.[3][2] (The canal has since been covered over for decades.[2]) Along with the Madrasa as-Sahrij and the Madrasa as-Sba'iyyin, it was built to provide lodging and teaching for students studying at the nearby Andalus Mosque, much as the Seffarine and al-Attarine Madrasas served students at the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque across the river.[3][4][5][2] Although the Andalus mosque was thus a major center of scholarship and study in the middle ages, it was eventually eclipsed by the Qarawiyyin Mosque/University and fell into relative decline, possibly making the madrasas less important.[3] In the late 18th or early 19th century the Alaouite sultan Moulay Slimane (who also built a number of other mosques in Fes) demolished the madrasa and built a new mosque over it, which became one of the main Friday mosques of the district.[3]
Architecture
editThe mosque follows the standard model of Moroccan mosque architecture. It has a prominent square-shaft minaret with minor decorative framing around its windows. The mosque's layout is distinguished by a proportionally very large rectangular courtyard (sahn), partly filled with fruit trees.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Ettahiri, Ahmed (2014). "La Bu'inaniya de Fès, perle des madrasas mérinides". In Lintz, Yannick; Déléry, Claire; Tuil Leonetti, Bulle (eds.). Maroc médiéval: Un empire de l'Afrique à l'Espagne (in French). Paris: Louvre éditions. p. 474. ISBN 9782350314907.
- ^ a b c d e Mosquée el oued (Information plaque). Posted on a wall near the entrance of the mosque. ADER-Fes. November 2014.
- ^ a b c d Le Tourneau, Roger (1949). Fès avant le protectorat: étude économique et sociale d'une ville de l'occident musulman. Casablanca: Société Marocaine de Librairie et d'Édition. pp. 141, 586.
- ^ "Sahrij and Sbaiyin Madrassa Complex". World Monuments Fund. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
- ^ Parker, Richard (1981). A practical guide to Islamic Monuments in Morocco. Charlottesville, VA: The Baraka Press.
