Which mosque in Tunisia was founded in 670 and became a model for North African mosque design?

Tunisia’s Great Mosque of Kairouan was founded in 670 and became a model for North African mosque design.

The mosque is located in Kairouan, a city established by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi in 670. The building was enlarged and rebuilt by later rulers, especially during the ninth century under the Aghlabids. Because of these successive campaigns, the monument combines early Islamic planning with important medieval structural and decorative features.

Its hypostyle prayer hall contains many columns, while the monumental square minaret rises at the northern end of the courtyard. The mosque’s severe exterior and carefully proportioned courtyard influenced later religious architecture across the Maghreb. Kairouan also became a major center of Islamic learning and pilgrimage in North Africa.

The Great Mosque of Kairouan is often described as one of the oldest and most important mosques in the western Islamic world. It forms part of Kairouan’s UNESCO World Heritage listing, established in 1988. It is distinct from Tunis’s Al-Zaytuna Mosque, another major historic mosque in Tunisia.