Kairouan is a city in central Tunisia and is the 4th holiest city according to Islamic religion. The town, one of the holy cities of Islam, lies on the Basse Steppe (Low Steppes), a semiarid alluvial plain southeast of the Central Tell. Outside the town is the zāwiyah (seat of a religious fraternity) of Sīdī Sahab, containing the tomb of one of the companions of Muhammad, and an Aghlabid reservoir, an open circular pool 420 feet (128 metres) in diameter dating from the 9th century. Tourism has also begun to make an impact, notably fueling the conservation of the old city and the development of the town’s Musée d’Art Islamique. Despite the transfer of the political capital to Tunis in the 12th century AD, Kairouan remained the Maghreb's principal holy city.Its rich architectural heritage includes the Great Mosque, with its marble and porphyry columns, and the 9th-century Mosque of the Three Gates. Kairouan - carte de la modification mineure des limites approuvée: 1988 Detail from: “Medina de Kairouan”, blueline print, French and Arabic, scale 1:50,000, 70 x 70 cm. Prime religious building is the Great Mosque, which is nearly 13 centuries old (though it has been almost destroyed and rebuilt at least twice). Kairouan, Al Qayrawan, Kairwan, or Kayrawan, an inland city of about 160,000 people in north-central Tunisia, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and North Africa's most holy city. Published: (1967) THE MEANING OF THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA IN THE TENTH CENTURY by: Khoury, Nuha N.N. English thesaurus is mainly derived from The Integral Dictionary (TID). Dr. Ray Harris; Khalid Koser (30 August 2004). Kairouan’s rampart-enclosed medina (75 acres [30 hectares]) contains the Great Mosque, with a 115-foot- (35-metre-) high minaret. Originally built by Sīdī ʿUqbah in the 7th century, the present mosque is the fifth mosque built on the site and dates from Aghlabid times. The SensagentBox are offered by sensAgent. Modern Kairouan trades in grain and livestock that are raised in the surrounding region, and it is an important carpet and handicrafts centre. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. Kairouan is particularly famous for its carpets and visiting a shop is an integral and sometimes unexpected part of experiencing the city. Kairouan, also spelled Al-Qayrawān, Qairouan, or Kairouan, town located in north-central Tunisia. See more. English Encyclopedia is licensed by Wikipedia (GNU). Contact Us | Published: (1996) Kairouan is defined as the holiest city of Tunisia, being the oldest Islamic settlement, having the oldest mosque in North Africa and the world’s oldest minaret.. or n a city in NE Tunisia: one of the holy cities of Islam; pilgrimage and trading centre. | Last modifications, Copyright © 2012 sensagent Corporation: Online Encyclopedia, Thesaurus, Dictionary definitions and more. The town served as the camp from which the offensive was launched that resulted in the Islamic political and religious subjugation of the Maghrib (northwest Africa). A heavy red pencil line demarcates the "zone à inscrire". Description English: Interior view of the portico located on the western side of the courtyard of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, in Tunisia. The town has expanded rapidly with the establishment of a university and some light industry. To make squares disappear and save space for other squares you have to assemble English words (left, right, up, down) from the falling squares. Europa Publications Limited (30 October 2003). Privacy policy Eco, Cookies help us deliver our services. For about four centuries it was the government center and the capital of the *Aghlabids, the *Fatimids (until 969), and the *Zirid emirs, and the meeting place of commerce of East and West. It also served as the site of a famous medical research centre for both Jews and Muslims in the medieval period. Founded in 670, Kairouan flourished under the Aghlabid dynasty in the 9th century. Find out more. Kairouan - WordReference English dictionary, questions, discussion and forums. The Great Mosque of Kairouan is recognized as one of the most significant religious places in Islam. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Maliki school of Islam emerged there, as clerics challenged the personal and political excesses of the Aghlabid emirs. A city in northeastern Tunisia; population 117,900 (est. From the 11th century onward, however, Kairouan ceased to be the capital of Arab Ifriqiya. It was chosen as the capital of the Maghrib by the first Aghlabid ruler about 800. Subsequently, the town served (with Mahdia [Al-Mahdiyyah]) as the political centre through the Fāṭimid and Zīrid dynasties into the 11th century, becoming one of the great administrative, commercial, religious, and intellectual centres of Islam. Lettris is a curious tetris-clone game where all the bricks have the same square shape but different content. The Great Mosque of Kairouan was a public structure, set along roads that served a city with a vibrant commercial, educational, and religious life. Omissions? ), http://books.google.com/books?id=f6xyAAAAMAAJ, "Location and origin of the name of Kairouan", http://www.isesco.org.ma/english/capitalsIslamic/2009/kairouan2009/p2.php, http://books.google.com/books?id=pP315Mw3S9EC&pg=PA150, Towards a Strategic Geopolitic Vision of Afro-Arab Relations, "Tunisia News – Sufi Song Festival starts in Kairouan", http://news.marweb.com/tunisia/entertainment/sufi-song-festival-kairouan.txt, http://www.kairouan.org/en/decouverte/Histoiredekairouan/lagrandemosquee.htm, "Great Mosque of Kairouan (Qantara mediterranean heritage)", http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/index.php, http://books.google.fr/books?id=IaM9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA104&dq=kairouan+mosque+the+ancestor+of&cd=1#v=onepage&q=kairouan%20mosque%20the%20ancestor%20of&f=false, Mausoleum of Sidi Sahbi (Qantara Mediterranean heritage), Panoramic virtual tour of Kairouan medina, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kairouan&oldid=498811746, Populated places established in the 7th century, two large water reservoirs called "Aghlabid basins". Kairouan definition, a city in NE Tunisia: a holy city of Islam. Site of Carthage, Coordinates: 35°40′N 10°06′E / 35.667°N 10.1°E / 35.667; 10.1, This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. Kairouan grew in size and beauty and no where was this more evident than in the construction and continuing elaboration of its Great Mosque. You can also try the grid of 16 letters. KAIROUAN. Tradition holds that the town was founded in 670 by ʿUqbah ibn Nāfiʿ (Sīdī ʿUqbah), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, on the site of the Byzantine fortress of Kamouinia. Kairouan has always been a place popular with travellers, whether here for trade or the purposes of religious pilgrimage. It is th religious hart of Tunisia, with over 100 mosques. Away from the coast, in a landscape of steppes, Kairouan is a fascinating city still anchored in a distant past. Kairouan in British English. UNESCO World Heritage Site (Kairouan, masterpiece of human creative genius, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design, unique to a cultural tradition, traditional human settlement or land-use, cultural object with outstanding universal significance, 1988–) With a SensagentBox, visitors to your site can access reliable information on over 5 million pages provided by Sensagent.com. Carpets are graded by their fineness, the number of knots in a square metre, with a normal weave from 10,000 to 40,000, fine weave from 65,000-90,000 and extra fine from 160,000 - 500,000. Kairouan is the fourth most holy city of the Muslim faith and as such a major destination for pilgrimage, The history and Mosques in the city and the long history of Kairouan have seen it become a UNESCO World Heritage site. Introduction Edit. Kairouan synonyms, Kairouan pronunciation, Kairouan translation, English dictionary definition of Kairouan. Each square carries a letter. : You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work; to remix – to adapt the work; Under the following conditions: attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. 2004). (125 km.) Arabic القيروان (also known as Kairwan, Kayrawan, Al Qayrawan) is a Muslim holy city which ranks fourth after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem as a place of pilgrimage. Pop. A windows (pop-into) of information (full-content of Sensagent) triggered by double-clicking any word on your webpage. Architectural and historical jewels like this are relatively unknown in the West, so we want to share it with everyone. AU Headquarters, Addis Ababa, 11–12 May 2004, an offensive content(racist, pornographic, injurious, etc. Mosque of Ansar, dating, according to the tradition, to 667 but totally renewed in 1650. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. | The Great Mosque of Kairouan . Letters must be adjacent and longer words score better. Application de livraison a domicile pour le restaurant Delice Food Kairouan Tunisie 72,254. Pop: 124 000 (2005 est) Collins English Dictionary. Change the target language to find translations. Kairouan, also spelled Al-Qayrawān, Qairouan, or Kairouan, town located in north-central Tunisia.The town, one of the holy cities of Islam, lies on the Basse Steppe (Low Steppes), a semiarid alluvial plain southeast of the Central Tell. See if you can get into the grid Hall of Fame ! (2004) 117,903. Corrections? The mosque has great importance historically because it is the first mosque in the first Muslim town in the West. Decisions; 2010 It is reputed that seven visits here are the equivilent of one to Mecca. The wordgames anagrams, crossword, Lettris and Boggle are provided by Memodata. Full description. Kairouan (Arabic: القيروان ) (cried Kirwan or Al Qayrawan an aa), is the caipital o the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisie.Referred tae as the Islamic Cultural Caipital, it is a UNESCO Warld Heritage site.The ceety wis foondit bi the Arabs aroond 670. As such, it assumed the important function of representing a cosmopolitan and urbane Kairouan, one of the first cities organized under Muslim rule in North Africa. One of Islam’s holy cities, it was the first capital of the Maghreb. The web service Alexandria is granted from Memodata for the Ebay search. Kairouan (Arabic: القيروان Al Qairawān), also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan, is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Kairouan Tourism: Tripadvisor has 1,942 reviews of Kairouan Hotels, Attractions, and Restaurants making it your best Kairouan resource. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Pop: 124 000 n. a city in NE Tunisia: a holy city of Islam. All Free. As a result of Bedouin incursions in the 11th century, the decline of steppe cultivation in favour of nomadic life, and the rise of Tunis as capital, Kairouan declined into an isolated market town for nomads. It has earned the name "City of 100 Mosques". Choose the design that fits your site. Most English definitions are provided by WordNet . The Great Mosque of Kairouan (Arabic: جامع القيروان الأكبر) is situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan, Tunisia. Company Information This was originally a paper submitted to the African Union (AU) Experts’ Meeting on a Strategic Geopolitic Vision of Afro-Arab Relations. The Great Mosque of Kairouan (Arabic: جامع القيروان الأكبر ), also known as the Mosque of Uqba (جامع عقبة بن نافع), is a mosque situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan, Tunisia and is one of the most impressive and largest Islamic monuments in North Africa..