Koutoubia From a Marrakesh

Marrakech, city of Kings, Moroccan city par excellence, is known worldwide for its Koutoubia Mosque. The only silhouette of this impressive mosque centuries old breathtaking. Indeed, how not to feel travel dreams, at the sight of this historic monument, and sacred place of prayer, theater so much, in one of the most beautiful cities in North Africa! Traveling like Odysseus returns again in Marrakech, and you discover every angle Koutoubia minaret and its sublime emblem of the red city.
History of the Koutoubia
The mosque is first very old: started in 1120 under the Almoravids, the mosque was not oriented towards Mecca. The new Almohad sultan, who has just conquered Marrakech, decided to build a new mosque correctly oriented. It is therefore primarily the Almohad dynasty that will give splendor to the mosque from 1162 and the aspect that we know today.

The construction was decided by Sultan Abdel Moumen, and will not be completed until the reign of his grandson, son, Yacoub el Mansour, in 1199. The minaret of Marrakech inspire subsequently other Almohad constructions. These are the Almohads who also built the other two splendid mosques "sisters" of the Koutoubia, similar in minaret: minaret (unfinished) of the mosque Hassan Rabat, the Hassan Tower and the Giralda in Seville, become part of the present cathedral.

The Minaret

The minaret, high 69 m (77 counting the arrow), overlooking the city, can be seen from virtually anywhere. The mosque is the philosophy of the Almohades, which were quite strict Dynasty: no teeming scenery, no extravagances, one remains in sobriety, while stone. To crown the minaret, a "Jamour", three brass balls, each representing the high holy places of Islam: Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Ok, there are 4, but the fourth ball is advanced.