Islamic Architecture Reviewer

ARABIA

he religion of Islam began in

Islam or submission to Allah’s will

the world’s 2nd largest religion with around 1.9 billion followers

Mecca

the most important City in Islam

Shahada

One of the Five Pillars of Islam where it is fundamental profession of faith.

Salah

One of the Five Pillars of Islam where it is the ritual prayer toward Mecca, completed five times a day.

Zakat

One of the Five Pillars of Islam where it is obligatory donation to charity.

Sawm

One of the Five Pillars of Islam where it is the obligatory fasting during the month of Ramadan.

Haj

One of the Five Pillars of Islam where it is a pilgrimage to Mecca that lasts five days and is obligatory at least once in every Muslim’s life.

Kaaba in Mecca

the holiest place in Islam, washes away every Muslim’s pilgrimage sin in the eyes of God.

Geometric Pattern

The Islamic emphasis on repetition, balance, symmetry, and pattern formation is exemplified by these designs.

Calligraphy

like other Islamic decorations, is closely tied to geometry. All the letter proportions are mathematically determined. Inscriptions are commonly utilized as a frame along and around major architectural elements such as gateways and cornices.

Mosque

- any house or open area of prayer in Islam.

masjid jāmi

or “collective mosque” - a large state controlled mosque that is the center of community worship and the site of Friday prayer services;

Masjid

- small prayer house

Madrasah

- religious college and mosque

SAHN

cloistered or arcaded courtyard which is a fundamental feature

FAWWARA

ablution fountain

MIHRAB

niche oriented towards Mecca

DIKKA

reading desk

MAQSURA

screen/divider

MINBAR

a raised platform for ceremonial announcements

IWAN

open-fronted porch facing a court

LIWAN

Prayer hall

MINARET

tower from which a call to prayer is made

KIBLAH

axis oriented towards Mecca

LIWANIT OR RIWAQ

colonnade or arcade

Minarets

appear as a part of the architecture of Mosques in the form of towers and it often features one or more balconies. The towers act as visual aids to direct people towards the mosque, and they also act as focal points during the Islamic call for prayers.

Muezzin

caller who summons the faithful to prayer

Imam

a man who leads the congregation in prayer

Caliph

successor to the prophet as military, judicial, or spiritual leader of Islam

Sufi

holy man

Domes

usually appear as a part of roofs and ceilings and are hemispherical structures.

Arches

Prominent elements found in Islamic Architecture and their placement usually defines the entrances to buildings and rooms.

Muqarnas

resemble stalactites or honeycombs and become the 3d sculptural ornamentations that often appear as a part of vaults.

Intricate Work

The word ‘Muqarna’ stems from the Arabic word ‘Qarnasi’ meaning

Wind scoop or Wind catcher

traditional Persian architectural design that creates natural ventilation in buildings.

Yazd

one of the largest cities in Iran, is known as the “City of Wind catchers.

Hypostyle Halls

entered the Islamic world during the Umayyad Dynasty. The shape of these halls is typically rectangular or square, and the columns are arranged according to a grid pattern.

congregational mosques

the prayer halls follow the hypostyle form.

Paradise Garden

These gardens provide respite during summer to the people. The gardens display water

Paradise Garden

These gardens often have a quadrilateral layout. The Holy Qur’an features many references to gardens which symbolize paradise on earth.

water

In Islamic architecture throughout the Middle East and beyond, ____ plays a crucial role- serves as a symbol of purity and life, as well as a practical tool for cleansing the body and cooling the air.

Jali

is a beautifully carved latticed screen that shows how adornment is used in Islamic art and building.

The Kaaba

was a sanctuary in pre-Islamic times.

DOME OF THE ROCK (QUBBAT AL-SAKHRA)

It contained a large prayer hall whose dominant feature was a high arcaded central nave aligned on the kiblah axis.

The Dome of the Chain

with its contemporary and similar satellite, the Dome of the Chain, it covers the summit of Mount Moriah the “Furthest Sanctuary” from which the Prophet is believed to have been carried on a night ride to heaven to receive fundamental revelations.

The Dome of the Chain

Its high timber dome was carried on a stone arcade of pointed arches on Corinthian columns alternating with marble-faced piers. Surrounding arcaded aisles are set out on an octagonal plan.

The Dome of the Chain

The dome was a double-shelled timber structure very similar to that of or intended for the church of St. Simeon Stylites in northern Syria.

THE MOSQUE OF THE PROPHET, MEDINA

The home of Muhammad and his family was a simple structure, made of raw brick, that opened on an enclosed courtyard where people gathered to hear him. In 624 Muhammad decreed that prayer be directed toward Mecca.

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF DAMASCUS

The first known minarets in Islam, however, were probably the extant towers of the Great Temple which became __________

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF DAMASCUS

The entire southern side of the compound was converted into the prayer chamber of the mosque, with arcades set against the outer walls. A further minaret was introduced centrally on the northern side and there was a high nave with lateral aisles of double-tiered arcading at right angles to it.

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF MALWIYA, SAMARRA

now disaffected, was the largest mosque ever built. Although probably started by his predecessor, it is generally regarded as the work of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil, who also built the nearby mosque of Abu Dulaf

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF MALWIYA, SAMARRA

The structure had 17 aisles and 16 gates. Surrounding the courtyard was a triple portico with octagonal columns.

The Minaret of Samarra

the mosque's minaret or place from where prayer is called--is a conical tower with a spiral ramp. Its shape is heavily influenced by a certain kind of Mesopotamian ziggurat. One of the most famous minarets, it is 52 meters tall and 33 meters wide.

THE GREAT MOSQUE, QAIROUAN (QAYRAWAN)

(from 836 rebuilt under Yazid bin Hakim, governor) is the principal building of the Aghlabids and has an important relationship to the mosques of the Umayyad and Abbasid capitals. Its square minaret stands on the center line of the building.

THE GREAT MOSQUE, QAIROUAN (QAYRAWAN)

The building has slightly pointed horseshoe arches carried on capitals of Corinthian derivation. The gored dome is carried on cusped squinches. An important precedent was set in the prayer-chamber which has a Tshaped plan were a central nave intersects the transverse aisle against the kiblah wall.

THE MOSQUE OF IBN TULUN

In the new City built by Ahmed ibn Tulun was modeled on precedents in Samarra, whence he came from. The mosque retains its original character despite several restorations. Itis built in brick but is faced with stucco in which friezes are incised.

THE MADRASSA OF QAITBAY

The ultimate achievement of architectural development in Cairo. It survives completely and has been fully restored. A slender minaret reduces from the square to the octagon and then to the circle and an open colonnade on which stands the high shouldered dome

GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA

Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spanish Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba, also called _________, Islamic mosque in Córdoba, Spain, which was converted into a Christian cathedral in the 13th century. One of the largest sacred buildings in the Islamic world.

Patio de Los Naranjos (“Court of the Oranges”)

In the Great Mosque of Cordoba, about one-third of this area is occupied by the?

HYPOSTYLE HALL

The expansive prayer hall seems magnified by its repeated geometry. It is built with recycled ancient Roman columns from which sprout a striking combination of twotiered, symmetrical arches, formed of stone and red brick.

THE MIHRAB

The focal point in the prayer hall is the famous horseshoe arched mihrab or prayer niche. It is used in a mosque to identify the wall that faces Mecca

horseshoe-style arch

was common in the architecture of the Visigoths, the people that ruled this area after the Roman empire collapsed and before the Umayyads arrived

THE MIHRAB DOME

It is built of crisscrossing ribs that create pointed arches all lavishly covered with gold mosaic in a radial pattern.

GREAT MOSQUE OF SEVILLE

located on the site of the Great Mosque of the 12th century. The Patio Naranjos and Giralda Tower are the only remains of the former mosque. The mosque was converted for Christian worship.

GREAT MOSQUE OF SEVILLE

It is the third largest cathedral in Europe after St. Paul's and St. Peter's Basilica. Christopher Columbus is buried here also.

GIRALDA TOWER

It is a 104.1 meters (341.5 feet) tall minaret of a mosque that stood on the site of today’s Cathedral of Seville it was turned into a bell tower after the city was captured by the Christians in 1248.

ALHAMBRA

distinct among Medieval palaces for its sophisticated planning, complex decorative programs, and its many enchanting gardens and fountains. Its intimate spaces are built at a human scale that visitors find elegant and inviting.

ALHAMBRA

an abbreviation of the Arabic: Qal’at al-Hamra, or red fort, was built by the Nasrid Dynasty (1232- 1492)—the last Muslims to rule in Spain.

citadel

a residence for the ruler and close family in Alhambra

Alcazaba

barracks for the elite guard who was responsible for the safety of the Alhambra complex

medina (or city)

near the Puerta del Vino (Wine Gate), where court officials lived and worked in Alhambra

THE COMARES PALACE

Behind El, Mexuar stands the formal and elaborate _____ set back from a courtyard and fountain. The façade is built on a raised three-stepped platform that might have served as a kind of outdoor stage for the ruler.

Court of the Myrtles.

a covered patio in The Comares Palace surrounding a large courtyard with a pool, now known as the

PALACE OF THE LIONS

stands next to the Comares Palace but should be considered an independent building. The two structures were connected after Granada fell to the Christians. Muhammad V built the ________ most celebrated feature in the 14th century, a fountain with a complex hydraulic system consisting of a marble basin on the backs of twelve carved stone lions situated at the intersection of two water channels that form a cross in the rectilinear courtyard

the Sala de Los Mocárabes (Muqarnas Chamber)

To the West, _________, may have functioned as an antechamber and was near the original entrance to the palace. It takes its name from the intricately carved system of brackets called "muqarnas" that hold up the vaulted ceiling.

the Sala de Los Reyes (Hall of the Kings)

Across the courtyard, to the East, is ________, an elongated space divided into sections using a series of arches leading up to a vaulted muqarnas ceiling

PARTAL PALACE

was built in the early 14th century and is also known as del Pórtico (Portico Palace) because of the portico formed by a five-arched arcade at one end of a large pool. It is one of the oldest palace structures in the Alhambra complex.

Generalife

(from the Arabic, Jannat al-arifa). The word Jannat means paradise and by association, garden, or a place of cultivation

TOMB OF ISMAEL THE SAMANID, BOKHARA

Originally conquered by the Umayyads in 710, Bokhara, beyond the Oxus, flourished in the ninth and tenth centuries under the Samanid dynasty. A relatively small domed mausoleum, constructed in elaborately decorated brickwork within and without.

TOMB OF ISMAEL THE SAMANID, BOKHARA

Shaped and cut bricks are used in relief to form complex patterns. The building is an almost perfect cube, battered back externally, on which is superimposed a hemispherical masonry dome.

GHURID MINARET, JAM

isolated but well-preserved in a rocky valley in central Afghanistan. It stands at a height of sixty-five meters tall and consists of a tapering cylindrical shaft on a 9-meter octagonal base which is still partly buried.

KALYAN MINARET

the last surviving fragment of the Kara-khanid era mosque built by Mohammad Arslan Khan in 1127, predating the Mongol conquests. continues to serve as the centerpiece of the city at the Po-i-Kalyan square.

GUR-I AMIR, SAMARKAND

The building was unfinished when Timur died, to be buried in the tomb which dominates the funerary complex known as the Gur-i-Amir, Samarkand. The group includes a tomb, a madrassa, and a caravanserai. An abnormally high drum is surmounted by a high-rising, bulbous dome said to have been rebuilt to satisfy an emperor with a passion for impressive height The exterior shorn of its upper structure is gaunt and awkwardly proportioned.

THE GREAT MOSQUE (MASJID-E JAMEH OF ISFAHAN)

complex of buildings in Eṣfahān, Iran, that centers on the 11th-century domed sanctuary and includes a second smaller domed chamber, built in 1088, known for its beauty of proportion and design.

SUEYMANIYE MOSQUE

is the center of a group of civic buildings. Around it stand baths, schools, colleges, a hospital, shops, a library, public restaurants, cemeteries, and living quarters with houses for officers and holders of civic and religious posts.

SUEYMANIYE MOSQUE

Sultan Suleyman and his wife Roxelana are buried in modest octagonal domed mausolea whose internal surfaces are rich with dazzling displays of Iznik tilework: exuberant white stylized blossoms on a blue ground for the consort and rich but soberer carpets of patterning for the monarch.

MOSQUE OF SELIM II, EDIRNE, TURKEY

The ethereal dome seems weightless as it floats above the prayer hall. All the architectural features are subordinated to this grand dome. The dome rests on eight muqarnas-corbelled squinches that are in turn supported by eight large piers.

IZNIK TILES, MOSQUE OF SELIM II

The original appearance of the interior’s decoration was different from what we see today. The interior has been repainted through the centuries and was extensively restored in the 20th century. However, the brilliant, polychrome ______ the epitome of Ottoman decoration, and whose motifs include iconographies such as saz leaves and Chinese clouds, remain largely untouched since the 16th century

SELIMIYE COMPLEX

The complex is huge. It measures 190 x 130 meters (or more than the length of two football fields) and is composed of a mosque, two symmetrical square madrasas (one of which served as a college for studying the hadiths, or traditions of the Prophet Muhammad), and there was a row of shops (arasta) and a school for learning the recitation of the Quran located to the west and added during the reign of Sultan Murad III, whose rule followed Selim II.

BLUE MOSQUE (SULTAN AHMED MOSQUE)

Mosque has one main dome, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine Christian elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is the last great mosque of the classical period.

SHALIMAR GARDENS, LAHORE

Located 8 kilometers east of Lahore, the Shalimar Gardens (also called the Shalamar Gardens) are one of the popular Lahore tourist attractions. ______ were used as the Royal pleasure garden by the Mughals during the 16th to the 19th century.

Farah Bakes (Bestower of Pleasure)

The upper terrace of Shalimar Gardens is named

Faiz Baksh (Bestower of Goodness)

The middle terrace of Shalimar Gardens is named

Hayat Baksh (Bestower of Life)

The lower terrace of Shalimar Gardens is named

Shah Nahar

A canal named ______, also known as Hansi canal, was constructed from a distant location to irrigate the Shalimar Gardens.

105 fountains

The upper level terrace contains ____ fountains

152 fountains

The middle level terrace contains ____ fountains

153

The lower level terrace contains ____ fountains