El-Oued Mosque

El-Oued Mosque

mosque, monument

Part of	Medina of Fez
Country	Morocco
Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd	Fez
Ein location	Fez
Coordinate location	34°3′46″N 4°58′10″W
Heritage designation	part of UNESCO World Heritage Site

De El-Oued Mosque (Arabic: جامع الواد, romanized: jama' al-wad, lit. 'mosque of the river'; Berber languages: ⵎⴻⵣⴳⵉⴷⴰ ⵏ ⵊⴰⵎⵄⵍⵡⴰⴷ) be a mosque insyd Fes el-Bali, de historic medina of Fes, Morocco. Na dem build am insyd de late 18th anaa early 19th century for de site of a former 14th-century madrasa by de same name.

History

De southern facade of de minaret of de mosque (photograph from 2010).

De mosque dey locate for de site of de former Madrasa el-Oued anaa (Madrasa al-Wadi), a madrasa dem build insyd 1321 anaa 1323 by de Marinid sultan Abu Sa'id Uthman II. Na de madrasa ein name ("Mosque of de River") refer to de fact dat na edey locate for top of de Oued Masmouda, a water canal wey dey branch off de Oued Fes river system wich na historically supply water to much of de Andalus quarter of Fes el-Bali. (Na dem cover de canal since over for decades.) Along plus de Madrasa as-Sahrij den de Madrasa as-Sba'iyyin, na dem build am make e provide lodging den teaching give students wey dey study for de nearby Andalus Mosque, much as de Seffarine den al-Attarine Madrasas serve students for de al-Qarawiyyin Mosque across de river. Although na de Andalus mosque be thus a major center of scholarship den study insyd de middle ages, na e eventually be eclipsed by de Qarawiyyin Mosque/University wey e fall into relative decline, possibly dey make de madrasas less important. Insyd de late 18th anaa early 19th century de Alaouite sultan Moulay Slimane (wey sanso build a number of oda mosques insyd Fes) demolish de madrasa wey he build a new mosque over am, wich cam turn one of de main Friday mosques of de district.

Architecture

De mosque dey follow de standard model of Moroccan mosque architecture. E get a prominent square-shaft minaret plus minor decorative framing around ein windows. De mosque ein layout be distinguished by a proportionally very large rectangular courtyard (sahn), dem partly fill plus fruit trees.