LARGE MOSQUE

In the street that leads from the Petit Socco to the port, stands on the right the beautiful great mosque of Tangier. Its construction began after the conquest of the city by the troops of the Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail. The English succumbed to the 4-year siege of the city and gave the keys to the sultan in 1684. Moulay Ismail chose a central location, in the heart of the medina, to build his mosque. It is close to the souk and the qaysariya, the closed market where jewellers and merchants of precious fabrics are kept. He built his mosque on a former Portuguese church. The architect's clear intention was to integrate the building into the existing city, without any profusion of ornamentation and artifice. Only the minaret protrudes from the neighbouring buildings and reveals its presence. The smooth, white-painted façade is distinguished only by the main door in the northwest wall. The large semicircular arch rests on half-columns painted red. It is framed by a decorative arch scalloped in a network of projecting and painted interlacing. The door is surmounted by a finely worked and painted wooden canopy. The mosque underwent renovations and alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries, as can be seen from the plaque affixed to the façade in 1817. The last major work was in 1962 when the mosque was extended. Originally, the surface of the building formed a square. The prayer area is covered and closes off an open courtyard to the southwest.