Islamic architecture facts for kids

Marvels of Islamic Architecture

Islamic architecture is the entire range of architecture that has evolved from Islam as a social, cultural, political and religious phenomenon. Hence the term encompasses religious buildings as well as secular ones, historic as well as modern expressions and the production of all places that have come under the varying levels of Islamic influence.

Classification of Islamic architecture
Elements of Islamic style
Influences
Moorish Architecture
Timurid Architecture
Ottoman Architecture
Mughal Architecture
Persian Architecture
Images for kids
See also

Classification of Islamic architecture

Islamic architecture in Malaysia

Islamic architecture can be classified according to

Chronology
Geography
Building Typology

Elements of Islamic style

The grandeur of Islamic architecture in Mosques, Algeria

Islamic architecture may be identified with the following design elements:

large domes
minarets (towers)
large courtyards often merged with a central prayer hall
the use of iwans to intermediate between different sections
use of geometric shapes and repetitive art (arabesque)
extensive use of decorative Arabic calligraphy
use of symmetry
ablution fountains
a mihrab inside mosques indicating the direction to Mecca
use of bright color
focus on the interior space of a building rather than the exterior

Influences

Islamic Art

A specifically Islamic architectural style developed soon after the Prophet Muhammad. From the beginning the style grew from Roman, Egyptian, Persian/Sassanid, and Byzantine styles. An early example may be identified as early as AD 691 with the completion of Qubbat al-Sakhrah (Dome of the Rock) in Jerusalem. It featured interior vaulted spaces, a circular dome, and the use of stylized repeating decorative patterns (arabesque).

The Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq, completed in AD 847, combined the hypostyle architecture of rows of columns supporting a flat base above which a huge spiralling minaret was constructed.

Moorish Architecture

Luxor New Mosque (Egypt)

Construction of the Great Mosque at Cordoba beginning in AD 785 marks the beginning of Islamic architecture in Spain and Northern Africa (see Moors). The mosque is noted for its striking interior arches. Moorish architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress of Granada, with its open and breezy interior spaces adorned in red, blue, and gold. The walls are decorated with stylize foliage motifs, Arabic inscriptions, and arabesque design work, with walls covered in glazed tiles.

Timurid Architecture

Timurid architecture is the pinnacle of Islamic art in Central Asia. Spectacular and stately edifices erected by Timur and his successors in Samarkand and Herat helped to dessiminate influence of the Ilkhanid art in India, thus giving rise to the celebrated Moghol school of architecture. Timurid architecture started with the sanctuary of Ahmed Yasawi in present-day Kazakhstan and culminated in Tumir's mausoleum Gur-e Amir in Samarkand. Axial symmetry is characteristic of all major Timurid structures, notably the Shah-e Zendah in Samarkand and the mosque of Gowhar Shad in Meshed. The double domes of various shapes abound, and the outsides are perfused and brilliantly colored.

Ottoman Architecture

The architecture of the Ottoman Empire forms a distinctive whole, especially the great mosques by and in the style of Sinan, like the mid-16th century Suleiman Mosque. The 17th-century Sultan Ahmed Mosque shows the brilliant adaptation and development of the forms established at Hagia Sophia a millennium earlier.

Mughal Architecture

Another distinctive sub-style is the architecture of the Mughal Empire in India in the 16th century. Blending Islamic and Hindu elements, the emperor Akbar constructed the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri, located 26 miles west of Agra, in the late 1500s.

The most famous example of Mughal architecture is the Taj Mahal, the "teardrop on eternity", completed in 1648 by the emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to their 14th child. The extensive use of precious and semiprecious stones as inlay and the vast quantity of white marble required nearly bankrupted the empire. The Taj Mahal is completely symmetric other than the sarcophagus of Shah Jahan which is placed off center in the crypt room below the main floor. This symmetry extended to the building of an entire mirror mosque in red sandstone to complement the Mecca-facing mosque place to the west of the main structure.

Persian Architecture

One of the first civilizations that Islam came into contact with during and after its birth was that of Persia. The eastern banks of the Tigris and Euphrates was where the capital of the Persian empire lay during the 7th century. Hence the proximity often led to Islamic architects of early Islam to borrow, but in fact inherit the traditions and ways of the fallen Persian empire.

Islamic architecture in fact borrowed heavily from Persian architecture. Baghdad, for example, was based on Persian precedents such as Firouzabad in Persia. In fact, it is now known that the two designers who were hired by al-Mansur to plan the city's design were Naubakht, a former Persian Zoroastrian, and Mashallah, a former Jew from Khorasan, Iran.

The Great Mosque of Samarra is another example, where the spiral edifice was based on Persian architecture, such as the spiral tower in the middle of Firouzabad, a former Sassanid capital.

Images for kids

The Mosque of the Prophet, standing on the site of Muhammad's first mosque in Medina. The present-day building is the result of many reconstructions and expansions up to modern times.
Section of the Umayyad-era Mshatta Facade, now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, from a palace near Amman
The walls and minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra built by the Abbasids in the 9th century
The mihrab and maqsura area of the Great Mosque of Cordoba, added to the mosque by al-Hakam II in the late 10th century
Shalamar Gardens, a Mughal paradise garden in Lahore, Pakistan
The sahn (courtyard) and minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia
Qusair 'Amra
An iwan in the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan
Ribbed dome in the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, dating from the 10th century
Sultan Ahmed Mosque
Mosque in Qasr al-Hallabat
Entrance courtyard of Qasr al-Hallabat
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (late 7th century)
Tarikhaneh Temple, a pre-Islamic monument built in Sasanian Persia which was later turned into a mosque, showing elements of Iranian architecture before the spread of Islam
The Bibi-Heybat Mosque in Baku, Azerbaijan
Portal of the Great Mosque of Divriği (1228–1229)
The Bāb al-Yaman (بَـاب ٱلْـيَـمَـن, Gate of the Yemen) in the Old City of Sana'a, Yemen
The Mosque of Arwa bint Ahmad in Jibla (11th century), an example of a hypostyle courtyard mosque
Great Mosque of Zabid, with one of the oldest surviving minarets in Yemen (circa 13th century)
Central dome of the Ashrafiyya Mosque in Ta'izz (circa 1397)
Shibam, an example of a historic fortified village
The Taj Mahal in Agra (1632–1647), the most famous building of Mughal architecture
Demak Mosque One of the oldest surviving mosques in Indonesia.
The Great Mosque of Xi'an, China
A Tatar minaret dating from the 15th century
Almnara Tower Somalia
The 13th century Fakr ad-Din Mosque in Mogadishu
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque at Muscat is the main mosque in the Sultanate of Oman, started in 1995 and inaugurated in 2001.
Faisal Mosque at Islamabad, Pakistan designed by Vedat Dalokay.
Museum of Islamic Art at Doha, Qatar designed by I. M. Pei.
Islamic geometric patterns in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Dome with squinches in the Palace of Ardashir of pre-Islamic Persia. Squinches are one of the most significant Sasanian contribution to Islamic architecture.
The dome of the Gur-i Amir Mausoleum in Samarqand
Non-radial rib vault in the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan
Dome of the tomb of Ahmed Sanjar in Merv
Upper dome of Ālī Qāpū, Isfahan
VIew of the main dome at Humayun's Tomb in Delhi
Dome of Taj Mahal in Agra
The bulbous domes of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore
The main dome of Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta has tiles arranged in a stellate pattern to represent the night sky
The interior of the main dome of Shahi Hammam in Lahore
Central domes of the Hagia Sophia
Dome of the Kalenderhane Mosque
Selimiye Mosque, Edirne
Mashrabiya balcony in Bayt al-Suhaymi, Cairo (Egypt)
Hünkâr Mahfili (prayer space for the sultan) inside the Hagia Sophia (Turkey)
Use of jali screen at Lahore Fort (Pakistan)
Jharokha balcony at Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur (India)
Design of a muqarnas quarter vault from the Topkapı Scroll
Muqarnas in the necropolis of Shah-i-Zinda, Samarqand
Muqarnas in the Alhambra
The muqarna of a mosque in Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Intricate design on the muqarna of Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore
Geometrical tile decoration (zellīj) in the Ben Youssef Madrasa in Marrakesh
Dome of the Shah Mosque in Isfahan with calligraphic inscription
Bengali Islamic terracotta on a 17th-century mosque in Tangail, Bangladesh
Much of the interior of Emperor Jahangir's mausoleum in Lahore is adorned with Mughal-era frescoes.
Calligraphic inscription on the dome of the Mevlana mausoleum
Design of ceiling in the Mahabat Khan Mosque in Peshawar
Mihrab of the Great Mosque of Cordoba (10th century)
Stucco-carved mihrab of Uljaytu at the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan (early 14th century)
Mihrab of the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan in Cairo (14th century)
Ottoman mihrab with Iznik tiles in the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, Istanbul (16th century)
Mihrab of the Jama Masjid in Delhi (mid-17th century)
Minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan (early 9th century)
Minaret of Jam, Afghanistan (12th century)
Minaret of Sultan Qaytbay (15th century) at the al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo
Ottoman minarets of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul (early 17th century)
Minaret at the Jama Masjid in Delhi (mid-17th century)
Medina quarter of Fez, Morocco
Figure-ground diagram of Algiers
Figure-ground diagram of a European town (1819)
Kharraqan Towers, mausoleums of Seljuk princes, built in 1068 and 1093 in Iran
Dome in the Friday Mosque of Isfahan, Iran, added in 1088–89 by Seljuk vizier Taj al-Mulk
Ghaznavid Tower of Mas'ud III near Ghazni (in present-day Afghanistan), from the early 12th century
Ribat-i Sharaf caravanserai in Khorasan (northeastern Iran), built in 1114–1115
The Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan), built in 1127 as part of a Qarakhanid congregational mosque
Toghrol Tower in Rayy, south of present-day Tehran, Iran, built in 1139 as the tomb of the Seljuk sultan Tughril
Mausoleum of Sultan Ahmad Sanjar (c. 1152) in Merv (in present-day Turkmenistan)
Hospital of Nur al-Din, Damascus (1154)
Qarakhanid Mausoleums in Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan, second half of the 12th century
Minaret of the al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul (before its destruction in 2017), dating from the 12th century
Courtyard façade of the Great Mosque of Diyarbakir, founded in the 7th century and rebuilt by the Artuqids in the 12th century
Yedi Kardeş Tower in the city walls of Diyarbakir, built by Artuqid sultan Nasir al-Din Mahmud in 1208–1209
Mausoleum of Fakhr al-Din Razi or Il-Arslan in Kunya-Urgench, Turkmenistan, late 12th or early 13th century (Khwarazmian Empire period)
Zinciriye or Sultan Isa Madrasa in Mardin (1385)
Hypostyle interior of the Alâeddin Mosque in Konya (12th-13th centuries)
Seljuk mosaic tile decoration from the Kubadabad Palace (early 13th-century Anatolia)
Courtyard of the Sultan Han caravanserai, built in 1229 on the road between Aksaray and Konya
Interior of the Çifte Minareli Medrese in Erzurum (c. 1250)
Entrance portal of the Karatay Madrasa in Konya (c. 1251), with muqarnas and ablaq decoration
Tile decoration inside the Karatay Madrasa in Konya (c. 1251)
Stone-carved decoration in the entrance portal of the Ince Minareli Medrese in Konya (c. 1265)
Entrance and minarets of the Gök Medrese in Sivas (1271–2)
Döner Kümbet in Kayseri (1276), the tomb of a Seljuk princess
Eşrefoğlu Mosque in Beyşehir (1297), an example of a wooden hypostyle mosque
The Green Mosque in Iznik (late 14th century)
The Grand Mosque of Bursa (end of 14th century)
Tiled mihrab of the Green Mosque in Bursa (early 15th century)
Courtyard of the Bayezid II Mosque, Istanbul (late 15th century)
Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul (16th century), designed by Mimar Sinan
One of the chambers of the Topkapı Palace
Interior of Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul (early 17th century)
Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Istanbul (mid-18th century), an example of the Ottoman Baroque style
The sebil of Abdülhamid I, Istanbul (late 18th century)
Entrance gates of the Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul (19th century)
Istanbul High School (19th century)
Examples of civil Ottoman architecture in Eskişehir
Yalı is a house or mansion constructed along the shores of the Bosphorus near Istanbul
Reception Hall of Abd ar-Rahman III at Madinat al-Zahra (10th century, caliphal period)
Aljaferia Palace in Zaragoza (11th century, Taifa period)
Almoravid Qubba in Marrakesh (early 12th century, Almoravid period)
Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakesh (12th century, Almohad period)
Giralda tower in Seville: former Almohad minaret (12th century) converted into a Christian bell tower
Kasbah Mosque in Tunis (13th century, Hafsid period)
Bou Inania Madrasa in Fes (14th century, Marinid period)
The Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, Granada (14th century, Nasrid period)
Dome of the Hall of Ambassadors in the Alcazar of Seville (14th century): an example of Mudejar architecture
Youssef Dey Mosque in Tunis (17th century): an example of Ottoman influence blended with local styles
Central mosque of Ghardaïa: an example of local architecture in the M'zab region (Algeria)
Mihrab of the Mausoleum of Sultan Baybars in Damascus (built 1277-1281)
Complex of Sultan Qalawun in Cairo (built in 1284–85). It included a mausoleum, a madrasa, and a highly important maristan (hospital).
Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad (built in 1318 and modified in 1335) at the Citadel of Cairo
The Madrasa-Mosque of Sultan Hasan (built between 1356 and 1361), the largest and one of the most impressive Mamluk monuments
Projecting entrance portal of the Madrasa-Mosque of Sultan Barquq (built between 1384 and 1386)
Interior of a mausoleum in the Khanqah-Mosque of Faraj ibn Barquq (built between 1400 and 1411)
Twin minarets of Bab Zuweila, built between 1415 and 1420 for the nearby Mosque of al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh
Carved stone dome of the Funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay (completed in 1474) in the Northern Cemetery of Cairo
Sabil of Qaytbay (1482) at the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem
Wikala of Sultan al-Ghuri (1505), example of an urban caravanserai in Cairo
Sabil-Kuttab of Abd ar-Rahman Katkhuda (1744), which combines Mamluk and Ottoman elements
Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque in Alexandria, built in the 1940s in a neo-Mamluk style
The Qutb Minar and Quwwat al-Islam Mosque complex in Delhi, begun in the 1190s and expanded in the 13th to 14th centuries
Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam in Multan (circa 1335–1340), built under the Tughluq dynasty
The Friday Mosque of Ahmedabad (1423), which prominently combines Islamic and indigenous Indian architectural forms
Sixty Dome Mosque in Bagerhat (circa 1450)
Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, the first fully developed Mughal imperial tomb (1560–1570)
Fatehpur Sikri, a palatial complex begun in the 1560s by Akbar
Charminar in Hyderabad (1591), an example of architecture in the Deccan Sultanates
Room with fountain in the Muthamman Burj (1628–30), added by Shah Jahan inside the Agra Fort built by Akbar
The Red Fort in Delhi, built between 1639 and 1648 as the citadel of Shah Jahan's new capital
Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore (1635), notable for its tile-decorated surfaces
Badshahi Mosque in Lahore (c. 1673–1674)
Bibi Ka Maqbara at Aurangabad (1678)
Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur (1656), another example built by a Deccan sultanate
The Asfi Mosque of the Bara Imambara complex in Lucknow (c. 1780)
Gate of Panembahan Senapati Mosque in Kotagede, Yogyakarta.
The Grand Mosque of the Masjid Agung in Central Java, Indonesia, features a multi-layered roof typical of Indonesian mosque architecture.
Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, Indonesia, with Mughal and Dutch Colonial influences.
The Menara Kudus Mosque employs a Hindu-Buddhist temple-like structure as a minaret
Masjid Kampung Laut
Masjid Zahir
Kampung Hulu Mosque
Sultan Alaeddin Royal Mosque
Paloh Mosque