Sidi Belahcen Mosque

The Sidi Belahcen Mosque (Arabic: مسجد سيدي بلحسن; French: La Mosquée de Sidi Bel Hasan), also known as Sidi Bel Hasan Mosque^[1][2][3] or Sidi Abu al-Hasan Mosque^[4][5] is a former mosque in the city of Tlemcen, Algeria. The former mosque is located in the southwest of the square, next to the Great Mosque of Tlemcen.

Sidi Bellahsen Mosque
مسجد سيدي بلحسن
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Mosque (former)
Status	Inactive (currently a museum)
Location
Location	Tlemcen, Tlemcen Province
Country	Algeria
Interactive map of Sidi Bellahsen Mosque
Coordinates	34°52′59″N 1°18′41″W
Architecture
Style	Moorish (Zayyanid)
Founder	Abi Ibrahim ibn Yahya
Completed	1296
Minaret	1

The building has been repurposed as the National Public Museum of Islamic Calligraphy in Tlemcen, an Islamic art museum.

History

Photo of the mosque c. 1860

The mosque was founded in 1296 by the Zayyanid ruler Abi Ibrahim ibn Yahya,^{[clarification needed]} as inscribed on the plank of the western wall in the prayer hall and on the two groves made of plaster on top of the mihrab. The mosque's name is considered derived from the name of the local qadi and ulama Abi al-Hassan who served under the rule of Abu Said Uthman I (r. 1283–1303).

Today, the National Public Museum of Islamic Calligraphy (French: Musée public national de la calligraphie islamique) occupies the oratory of the former mosque, the adjoining room, the former courtyard, and a room on the second floor. The museum contains artefacts of Almoravid and Zayyanid art, relics found during excavations at Siga, Honaïne and the Agadir mosque, as well as Almohad and Roman coins.^[6]

Architecture

The former mosque has rather modest appearance compared to the other mosques of the same era. The former mosque has no sahn and uses similar tiles for the floor and the qibla wall. The ceiling was consisted of interlocking logs made of cedar trees, which is the first of its kind in Algeria and predates three or four centuries the style employed in the Andalusian Moorish architecture.

• 
  Inside the prayer hall, looking towards the mihrab (center)
• 
  Ceiling of the prayer hall
• 
  Transverse view of the prayer hall (mihrab on the right)
• 
  Mihrab decoration
• 
  Decorative capital next to the mihrab
• 
  Muqarnas inside the mihrab

See also

• Algeria portal
• Islam portal
• Museums portal

• Islam in Algeria
• List of mosques in Algeria
• List of museums in Algeria