Hassan Touer

Hassan Touer or Tour Hassan (Arabic: صومعة حسان‎) is the minaret o an incomplete mosque in Rabat, Morocco. Commissioned bi Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, the third Caliph o the Almohad Caliphate in 1195, the touer wis intendit tae be the lairgest minaret in the warld alang with the mosque, awso intendit tae be the warld's lairgest. When al-Mansur deed in 1199, construction on the mosque stoppit. The tower reached 44 m (140 ft), aboot hauf o its intendit 86 m (260 ft) hicht. The rest o the mosque wis awso left incomplete, wi anelie the beginnings o seiveral walls an 348 columns bein constructit. The touer, made o reid sanudstone, alang wi the remains o the mosque an the modren Mausoleum o Mohammed V, forms an important historical an tourist complex in Rabat. Yaqub al-Mansur Foonder o the Hassan Touer Yaqub al-Mansur wis a member o the Almohad Caliphate, a Berber Muslim empire in the Maghreb and Iberia. The touer, according tae some tradeetions, wis designed bi an astronomer an mathematician named Jabir ibn Aflah who wis awso supposed tae hae designed Hassan's sister touer, the Giralda o Seville in Al Andalus (modren day Spain). Baith o the touers were modelit on the minaret based on the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, but awso drew influence frae the auncient Egyptian Lichthoose o Alexandria for its hicht an method o ascendancy, a series o ramps. Yaqub al-Mansur conductit ither wirks in Rabat, maist notably reconstruction o the Kasbah o the Udayas an conversion o the Chellah auncient complex, biggit bi the Phoenicians an Romans, tae a necropolis uisage. Structur The mosque is strategically placed on the heich sooth bank o the Bu Regreg river tae provide an imposin spectacle visible for miles aroond. Syne the aurie surrounding wis suburban at the time o construction an lacked the population tae regularly fill the mosque, historians hae been led tae believe that it wis biggit tae serve double-duty as baith a place o worship an as a fortress. Instead o stairs, the touer is ascendit bi ramps, which waud hae alloued the muezzin tae ride a horse tae the tap tae issue the call to prayer. At the center o each o the sax fluirs would hae been a vaultit chamber surroundit bi the ramps an lit bi the horseshoe-shaped windows set intae the sides o the tower. Its exterior is decoratit wi panels o sebka patternin as weel as engagit columns an caipitals cairvit frae the same saundstone as the touer itself, but retains ane marble caipital o Andalusi spolia. Notably, the mosque wis gien ceelindrical stone columns rather than the brick piers mair commonly seen in Almohad airchitectur. These columns were tae be formed frae drums o differin hicht, an idea that, while innovative at the time, slowed down construction significantly an contributit tae the mosque's unfinished state. The plan oreeginally includit three smaw inner coortyards, ane in the back, parallel tae the qibla, an the ither twa on aither side o the prayer hall, allouin daylight an fresh air tae flow in through the arcades. In addeetion tae bein incomplete, the mosque sustained some damage in the 1755 Lisbon yirdquauk. Warld heritage status This steid wis addit tae the UNESCO Warld Heritage Tentative Leet on Julie 1, 1995 in the Cultural category. It wis grantit Warld Heritage Status in 2012. Gallery References Freemit airtins Media relatit tae Hassan Touer at Wikimedia Commons