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Mouassine Fountain
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Mouassine Fountain
The Mouassine Fountain is a part of the 16th-century religious complex of the Mouassine Mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. The tradition of building public fountains in Marrakesh is old but took on a very monumental character in the Saadian era.
The Mouassine Mosque complex was built between 1562-63 CE (970 AH) and 1572-73 CE (980 AH) on the orders of the Saadian sultan Abdallah Al-Ghalib. It includes a mosque, a library, a mîdhâ (ablutions facility), a hammam and the Mouassine Fountain. It also included a children's Qur'anic school (msid) which no longer retains its function today. The fountain is one of the largest in the medina of Marrakesh, along with the fountain of the Bab Doukkala Mosque and the Shrob ou Shouf Fountain, both also from the Saadian period. It is located in the north of the ablutions room of the Mouassine mosque.
The presence of the water supply system necessary for the mîdhâ and the hammam led the Saadian architects to build open fountains with drinking troughs near the mosques. So, it was a question of ensuring the supplying of the district with drinking water, while registering this act in its religious dimension since giving to drink constitutes in the Muslim world one of the most honorable alms. The fountain is inserted next to three arches which gave access to drinking troughs for animals. The large fountain was reserved for humans while the two drinking troughs next to it; covered with vaults and opening onto the street by three arches, were used, at the time, to water the animals, especially donkeys.
The medina of Marrakesh has 45 public drinking fountains.[citation needed] Depending on its location, each fountain has a monumental or a modest appearance. Large fountains, like that of Mouassine, abundantly decorated, are located next to mosques and/or mausoleums. These require the attribution of an architectural and decorative aspect to their annexes such as fountains. On the other hand, small neighborhoods must also have autonomy and access to water, their size therefore depends on the size of the neighborhood, some of them are decorated while others are much simpler.
The Mouassine Fountain is rectangular in shape and consists of a large opening resembling a corbel arch. The arch is made out of wood and a projecting canopy of carved wood hangs above it. Next to it are three other large arches which contained the drinking troughs. All together, these four arches occupy a rectangular space measuring 18.1 meters long and 4.7 meters wide. The fountain arch has piers that support two plaster consoles on which rest corbels and three lintels protected by a canopy. The whole is in cedar wood decorated with painted and chiseled floral motifs.
Inside above on a horizontal beam, a large carved plaster frieze features a geometric pattern of an eight-pointed star called "Mtemmen maa'kous". This geometric motif is inserted between two small friezes, narrower and also in carved plaster, repeat the eulogy "العز لله" meaning "The glory is to God".
Above, on the wooden beam, an inscription was painted in black on a plaster frieze that no longer exists today. It is visible in an old photograph in the book “Things seen in Morocco” by Alec John Dawson and its restitution was possible thanks to the reproduction of A. Bernard figured in the book “Picturesque and monumental geography” (P. 206).[full citation needed] The inscription says:
بُشْرَى فَقَدْ أَنْجَزَ اُلإِقْبَالُ ما وَعَدَا ***** وَكَوْكَبُ اُلمَجْدِ في أُفْقِ العُلا صَعِدَا
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Mouassine Fountain AI simulator
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Mouassine Fountain
The Mouassine Fountain is a part of the 16th-century religious complex of the Mouassine Mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. The tradition of building public fountains in Marrakesh is old but took on a very monumental character in the Saadian era.
The Mouassine Mosque complex was built between 1562-63 CE (970 AH) and 1572-73 CE (980 AH) on the orders of the Saadian sultan Abdallah Al-Ghalib. It includes a mosque, a library, a mîdhâ (ablutions facility), a hammam and the Mouassine Fountain. It also included a children's Qur'anic school (msid) which no longer retains its function today. The fountain is one of the largest in the medina of Marrakesh, along with the fountain of the Bab Doukkala Mosque and the Shrob ou Shouf Fountain, both also from the Saadian period. It is located in the north of the ablutions room of the Mouassine mosque.
The presence of the water supply system necessary for the mîdhâ and the hammam led the Saadian architects to build open fountains with drinking troughs near the mosques. So, it was a question of ensuring the supplying of the district with drinking water, while registering this act in its religious dimension since giving to drink constitutes in the Muslim world one of the most honorable alms. The fountain is inserted next to three arches which gave access to drinking troughs for animals. The large fountain was reserved for humans while the two drinking troughs next to it; covered with vaults and opening onto the street by three arches, were used, at the time, to water the animals, especially donkeys.
The medina of Marrakesh has 45 public drinking fountains.[citation needed] Depending on its location, each fountain has a monumental or a modest appearance. Large fountains, like that of Mouassine, abundantly decorated, are located next to mosques and/or mausoleums. These require the attribution of an architectural and decorative aspect to their annexes such as fountains. On the other hand, small neighborhoods must also have autonomy and access to water, their size therefore depends on the size of the neighborhood, some of them are decorated while others are much simpler.
The Mouassine Fountain is rectangular in shape and consists of a large opening resembling a corbel arch. The arch is made out of wood and a projecting canopy of carved wood hangs above it. Next to it are three other large arches which contained the drinking troughs. All together, these four arches occupy a rectangular space measuring 18.1 meters long and 4.7 meters wide. The fountain arch has piers that support two plaster consoles on which rest corbels and three lintels protected by a canopy. The whole is in cedar wood decorated with painted and chiseled floral motifs.
Inside above on a horizontal beam, a large carved plaster frieze features a geometric pattern of an eight-pointed star called "Mtemmen maa'kous". This geometric motif is inserted between two small friezes, narrower and also in carved plaster, repeat the eulogy "العز لله" meaning "The glory is to God".
Above, on the wooden beam, an inscription was painted in black on a plaster frieze that no longer exists today. It is visible in an old photograph in the book “Things seen in Morocco” by Alec John Dawson and its restitution was possible thanks to the reproduction of A. Bernard figured in the book “Picturesque and monumental geography” (P. 206).[full citation needed] The inscription says:
بُشْرَى فَقَدْ أَنْجَزَ اُلإِقْبَالُ ما وَعَدَا ***** وَكَوْكَبُ اُلمَجْدِ في أُفْقِ العُلا صَعِدَا
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