Name of Monument:

Challala-Dahraniya

Location:

140 km from El-Bayadh and 74 km from Aïn-Sefra, Challala-Dahraniya is one of the 40 ksour (fortified villages; sg. ksar) that lie in the mountains of the same name. The mountains of Ksour form the western part of the Saharan Atlas, which stretches from the Algerian–Moroccan border to the Djebel Ammour, The Ksour Mountains, Algeria

Date of Monument:

Hegira 575 / AD 1180

Period / Dynasty:

Idrisid

Patron(s):

Mulay Yusuf.

Description:

The ksar is surrounded by a rampart that is made of the houses themselves. It is laid out approximately in the form of a trapezium, with its main streets radiating out in the shape of a star from the djemaa, the assembly square. Other than the mosque and the djemaa, the most remarkable buildings are: the Qur'anic school adjoining the mosque, the mahakma (hall of justice) the Mulay Abdalkadir Djillali zawiya, the Sidi Sliman maqam, the Masiria hammam (baths), the house of travellers, the gates, the springs and basins, and the underground canal that runs under the ksar.
Built according to a more or less triangular layout, the mosque is composed of five bays orientated north and south, which are broken up by four rows of five, four, three and then two pillars. The mihrab is five-sided. A hollowed-out void with two steps sits in place of the minbar. The quadrangular minaret features a stringcourse that extends half-way up. The terrace features four merlons, one at each corner. The terrace has been fitted with a lantern surmounted by a dome, to illuminate the central aisle during the day. The top of the lantern, with its dome, reaches up to a height of 15 metres. Like all the other mosques of the Ksour region that resemble it, the Challala-Dahraniya mosque, which is the oldest, is impressive through the sheer simplicity in which all its beauty lies.
The djemaa, irregular in shape, is surrounded by stone benches that back onto its walls. The houses are all at one level, in fact on two floors (ground and first floor); as well as rooms and commodities, they all include a courtyard and an accessible terrace.

View Short Description

The ksar (fortified village) consists of a square, mosque, Qur'an school, justice hall, zawiya, maqam of Sidi Sliman, baths, guest houses and pools, among other things. The main roads of the town run from the assembly square, which is lined with benches that back onto the single-storey houses with their own courtyards and terraces. The almost triangular mosque consists of four naves of five bays, which narrow to fit the triangle shape. The square-plan minaret is crowned with a domed lantern.

How Monument was dated:

'According to oral tradition, and to genealogies that go back as far as the Idrisid shurfa , this ksar was founded around 1180 by Mulay Yusuf and the second generation descending directly from Idris II [died in 212/828]' (F. Cominardi).

Selected bibliography:

Camps, G., “Aux origines de la Berbérie. Massinissa ou le début de l'histoire”, Libyca, Vol. VIII, 1, 1960.
Cominardi, F., “Au cœur des monts des Ksour: le Ksar de Chellala-Dahrania”, HTM, revue d'architecture et d'urbanisme n 2, Algiers, 1994.
Ibn Khaldun, A., Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique du Nord, trans. de Slane, Paris, 1978.

Citation of this web page:

Ali Lafer "Challala-Dahraniya" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;dz;Mon01;32;en

Prepared by: Ali LaferAli Lafer

Architecte diplômé de l'École nationale d'architecture et des beaux-arts d'Alger, stagiaire du Centre international pour la conservation et la restauration des biens culturels (ICCROM) à Rome, Ali Lafer a été architecte en chef des Monuments au ministère de la Culture pendant son service civil. Directeur de l'Atelier Casbah chargé des études d'aménagement de la médina d'Alger, il a également enseigné au cours de Tunis pour la formation d'architectes du patrimoine maghrébin. Membre fondateur de l'association “Les amis du Tassili”, il est aussi chercheur dans les domaines de la numérisation de la documentation graphique et du relevé photogrammétrique.

Copyedited by: Margot Cortez
Translation by: Maria Vlotides
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen

MWNF Working Number: AL 41

RELATED CONTENT

 Artistic Introduction

 Timeline for this item

Islamic Dynasties / Period

Idrisids


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