Chinguetti Mosque Explained

Chinguetti Mosque
Native Name:مسجد شنقيط
Native Name Lang:ar
Map Type:Mauritania
Map Size:225px
Map Relief:yes
Coordinates:20.4633°N -12.3667°W
Religious Affiliation:Islam
Location:Chinguetti, Adrar, Mauritania
Tradition:Sunni
Festivals:-->
Organizational Status:-->
Architecture Type:mosque
Architecture Style:Moorish
Groundbreaking:13th-14th century
Date Destroyed:-->
Elevation Ft:-->

The Chinguetti Mosque (Arabic: 1=مسجد شنقيط|translit=Masjid Shinqīṭ) is a mosque in Chinguetti, Adrar Region, Mauritania. It was an ancient center of worship created by the founders of the oasis city of Chinguetti in the Adrar region of Mauritania in the thirteenth or fourteenth century.[1] The minaret of this ancient structure is supposed to be the second oldest in continuous use anywhere in the Muslim world.

Architecturally, the structure features a prayer room with four aisles as well as a double-niched symbolic door, or mihrab pointing towards Mecca and an open courtyard. Among its most distinctive characteristics are its spare, unmortared, split stone masonry, its square minaret tower, and its conscious lack of adornment, keeping with the strict Malikite beliefs of the city's founders. The mosque and its minaret is popularly considered the national emblem of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

The mosque was restored through a UNESCO effort, but it, along with the city itself, continues to be threatened by intense desertification.

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Notes and References

  1. Book: Glassé. Cyril. Smith. Huston. The new encyclopedia of Islam. 10 March 2011. January 2003. Rowman Altamira. 978-0-7591-0190-6. 102.