Overview of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, in Tunisia. This mosque, also called the Mosque of Uqba, extends over a surface area of 9,000 square metres. Founded in 670 AD by the Arab general and conqueror Uqba ibn Nafi, it dates, in its present form, from the 9th century (definitively rebuilt in 836 AD under the Aghlabid dynasty). Besides the fact of being the oldest place of worship in the Muslim West, the Great Mosque of Kairouan represents a remarkable example of Islamic architecture.