The most beautiful religious buildings Yemen

The old town has over fifty mosques, five of which are covered by domes or domes. The oldest mosques have a roof roof, and it is only with the first Ottoman occupation that the new architectural style was introduced, with its motifs and domes.

The most representative of the Yemeni mosques is probably the Great Mosque of Sana'a. She was built from Mohammed's life and his precise instructions. Some of its elements, such as decorative columns and wooden capitals, came from the cathedral destroyed some years previously and still see crosses on some capitals, other older ones are located in the south gallery and are remnants of the South-arabiques temples. It was enlarged in the th century and a wooden ceiling ceiling was added in the th century, the restoration of which gives rise to splendid colours, some of which would be of sassanide inspiration.

In the th century, it was restored by Queen Aroua, who added the east wing with her painted and carved ceiling. The two minarets were renovated at the end of the th century and the courtyard paved in the th century. The imam Yéhia, in 1936, built the north wing and added to the south a library above the ground level. Soil surveys also show that the first level of the soil must be located at 80 cm below the current level. During repairs, in 1973, the workers were surprised to discover, hidden, in earlier niches hidden by walls of newer stucco, ancient Koranic manuscripts and historical chronicles. It is regrettable that his visit is problematic for non-Muslims, while other countries like Egypt have no problem with everyone wandering through mosques, showing themselves to be discreet and respectful, of course.

Al Talha mosque, located near the Great Mosque, is remarkable by its minaret sitting on a powerful stone base.

Mosques Jana and Madhab, near the silverware souk, share a single-sided minaret with brick-friezes.

The Al Taous Mosque in the Talha area is one of the oldest in Sana'a. She received her name from a Yemeni disciple of Mohammed, Abd Al Rahman Al Taous, who died in 724 in Mecca. It is lit by alabaster windows. A «sabil», a public water tank, was placed against the outer wall of the mosque. Mosques, as a rule, cannot be visited by non-Muslims.

It is a kind of property called "waqf", whose mosques have stewardship: these are the gifts that believers have made to God and which, therefore, are inalienable.

Among these very diverse properties are vegetable gardens and orchards, whose products are sold in the souk or in the neighbourhood. The old town still has forty-nine different gardens at present. They are no longer left behind: they have been protected by raising walls all around. These gardens are with by wells called "mirnas," whose water is extracted by the action of a slug slug. It is the purpose of a wanderings in the old town to discover all its gardens.

Among the easiest access, you will note the Borom garden, near the south wall and overcoming the Saela, Al Abhar west of Bal Al-Yemen, Al Taqoua on the other side of the Saela, on the path to Tahrir Square.

«Sabils» are water tanks intended to quench the thirst of passers-by. They are in the center of small constructions surmounted by a dome, which some people made to build a charity.

«Steam», or public baths, are often attached to mosques as «waqf» property. They are composed of three to six halls covered by domes. The main basin room, which sometimes includes a fountain, is located at the ground level, while the hot room is below, partially buried, and gives access to the very hot room, underground. The heat boiler is placed on the bottom, while the hot and cold water pipes pass into the walls of all the rooms. Boilers operate on oil, but it is not uncommon for worn tires or other waste to be burned. For access to steam, part of the week is reserved for women and the other for men. The Maydan Hammam, built in 1597 by the Ottomans along with the Al Bakiriyyah Mosque, is one of the largest in the city. Its restoration is planned, as well as the replacement of heating fuel oil.

This is the only mosque that can be visited. It was built in two stages. From 1295 to 1297, Ashraf I built the prayer room, which is covered by a large dome surrounded by eight smaller domes, with two minarets. The interior domes are finely decorated and painted. The walls are decorated with ciselé stucco. The yard, in the back, is embellished with abeilles patterns. Ashraf II (1376-1400) added the external gallery, closed by a very beautiful portal that still exists. The courtyard contains the graves of these two kings. It was Imam Ahmed who, in an impulse of austerity, made stucco and ceiling brush. The restoration of interior decorations has just finished. The visitor can photograph them from the door of the prayer room. Climbing over the mosque is no longer allowed. The graves of the wife and the children of the founder of the old mosque are in the courtyard of aux whose geometric construction is very interesting. The plush, beautifully painted domes prayer room. Today madrasas still exists. It has many architectural similarities with the mosques of the city of City, in the Tihama.

You get to the Great mosque and the souk through the wadi. The Grande Mosque, built in 1088, has two domes and two more late minarets. The main entrance, at the top of a majestic staircase, is made by a very old door with two panels. An open gallery bypasses the mosque, gives access to the room of? and ends with an entrance to the souk. Basically, coming from a small Koranic school adjacent to the mosque, children can be heard recite verses of the Koran. Inside the prayer room, left of the mihrab, you can find the mausoleum of Queen Aroua (she is the only woman to have been buried in a prayer room). The style of the whole, as well as the rich interior decorations of the mosque, are fatimide inspired.

This is the Great Mosque on Friday. Dating back to the th century, it is the oldest of Ta. It is surmounted by three large domes and six smaller ones. The original minaret destroyed was replaced by another red brick.

Dating back to the th century, initially, four minarets were originally drawn from each angle. The only one remaining with a facettes dome of abbasid style. The paintings of the ceiling of the prayer room, the decorations of the mihrab, which indicate the direction of Mecca and the chair of preaching are rassoulide. An asymmetric spell basin, left of the entrance, reflects its water on the white wall and gives a remarkable impression of peace. The mosque has 13 doors and 40 windows, 3 spell basins and 291 columns. These two mosques have been renewed many times.

The local legend is that Abu Moussa Al Ashaïr, who was sent by the prophet Mohammed to Yemen to spread the Muslim faith, built this madrasas. It was in the 630 th century (in) under Sa king Hussein Ibn Salama that it was erected. Located in the heart of the ancient city, its inner courtyard is of all beauty.

The mosque of Youfrous was built in the 30 th century by the last king king, in memory of the descendant of Ali Abu Taleb, Sheikh Ahmed ibn Alwouan Al Sufi (died in 665). Sheikh Ahmed was the son of a harsh and cruel vizier with the people. He refused to succeed him because he did not want to dominate the population, and he became a hermit in Youfrous, where he helped and cared for everyone. His tomb is in the prayer room. A pilgrimage takes place every year. The large pool of? serves children during the summer. It is fed by a remote source by means of an underground channel and then by an aqueduct under a covered gallery. Further afield, in the direction of the south (80 km of Ta), you can visit Ibb, whose fame comes from a very old baobab that grows right before the village.

In 630 kilometres of Ta, towards Sana ', Al Janad was the first mosque built in Yemen in, of the living of the Prophet Mohammed by one of his disciples, Mu'dha ibn Jabal. The Great Mosque of Sana'a would only be the second, according to the historian Hamdani. The pilgrimage to Al Janad was considered by the Muslim world as important as that of Mecca, at the very point of replacing him in the life of a believer. It included two minarets originally. The one that currently exists is ayyubide, with a summit added by the Ottomans. The mosque has been restored many times. The latest renovation, rather unfortunate, added marble to the feet of the columns.

It was discovered during excavations in 1991 and 1992 by the Italian mission led by Professor Alessandro de Maigret. The temple is almost square, displaying 12 m out of 11. It consists of twelve monoliths pillars and five naves. The oldest part of the th and th centuries BC.

Known today as Mahram Bilkis was first excavated by the American Foundation for the Study of Man, led by Wendell Phillips, in 1951 and 1952. This temple was dedicated to the astrales deities. A pronaos with eight columns gave on a building whose inner part was surrounded by 32 monoliths columns, forming gallery. It was decorated with 64 false windows and numerous votive plates. The building opened on an oval courtyard protected by an enclosure about 300 metres.

Inscriptions were engraved on the walls. There are inscriptions in boustrophédon (primitive writing) not far from the remaining pillars. More than statues, including the famous representation of Mon'dîkarib, have been discovered. The temple, for the moment dated the th century BC, gave rise to pilgrimages, with renewed oaths of subservient to Saba.

Also known as Arsh Bilkis (the throne of Bilkis), it is 4 km southeast of Marib. He was dedicated to the male god of the moon, Almaqah. It was studied and searched by the German Archaeological Mission from 1988 to 1997. The first temple was built in the th century BC, and then enlarged four times over the following centuries. Ba'rân was an active place of worship for at least thirteen centuries. The temple, where only religious lords came, had a dallée courtyard, surrounded by monoliths columns, at the centre of which a well was found. The entrance of the temple was done by a large staircase. The six monoliths columns, which are still visible, were placed in front of the door on a podium. At the beginning of our era, the temple was partially destroyed. The religious complex was surrounded by a wall of raw bricks that sheltered the alluvial.

Built in the th century, it is covered by six domes and houses Koranic schools next to the prayer room.

It was restored in 1915 and its minaret, 60 metres high, is the highest in southern Yemen. Like the rest of the buildings in the city, the mosque is made of wood for its structure and would take for its construction material.

Shibam, like many cities in the valley, is imbued with the Sufi mystic of men recognized by their own. It was Sheikh Barouf Bajammal who marked this place. The architectural style is very inspired by Oman.