Name of Monument:

Djama’a Sidi Bel-Hasan (mosque)

Location:

Tlemcen, Algeria

Date of Monument:

Hegira 696 / AD 1296

Period / Dynasty:

'Abd al-Wadid

Patron(s):

Sultan ‘Uthman I.

Description:

Built in AH 696 / AD 1296 on the west side of Khemisti Square, the Sidi Bel-Hasan Mosque derives its name from Abu al-Hasan Ibn Yakhlaf Ettenessi, sage and lawyer of the mosque.
The building has had various uses. Since the beginning of the colonial era, it has served as a shop selling animal fodder, a school and, finally, a museum; it is probably from this period that 'the creation of two large windows and the tiling of friezes using modern earthenware', as mentioned by G. Marçais, are dated. Over the last few years, the museum has been transferred into part of the old madrasa in Tlemcen's 20th August Street, and the building has been restored.
The prayer hall occupies an area of about one hundred square metres. Six onyx columns support two horseshoe galleries, and thus demarcate three balatat (naves), perpendicular to the qibla wall, and five bays. Each balata is covered by a double sloping roof of pantiles on a cedarwood structure. The galleries and walls were once decorated with plaster arabesques enhanced with polychrome paint, some traces of which, along with a few small actual original sections, can still be seen on the north-facing walls, at the level of the arches. The mihrab, which has been designed on a hexagonal layout, features a semi-circular arch that rests on two columns and two capitals made of onyx. The framework that emphasises the mihrab rests on two horizontal bands that bear inscriptions. 'Above rises the archway that is made up of off-centre arches and of radiating keystones that are circumscribed by three tangential borders, and which are cantoned by cornerstones featuring floral tracery' (G. Marçais). A dome decorated with muqarnas (stalactite work) covers the mihrab. The quadrangular minaret is low in height (barely 14 metres). All of its four sides are decorated with rectangular panels that feature a diamond-shaped pattern, which has been made using bricks ornamented with earthenware mosaic. It is topped by a lantern decorated with zellij (enamelled tiles).

Despite being modified, this mosque retains a prayer room divided into three naves by two horseshoe arches supported by six onyx columns. The cedarwood ceilings are covered with tiled roofs, and the arcades and walls were once painted with arabesques. The mihrab, covered by a cupola, includes a horseshoe arch resting on two onyx columns. The squat, quadrangular minaret is decorated with diamond-pattern brickwork and earthenware mosaics and is topped by a lantern decorated with zellij (enamelled tiles).

How Monument was dated:

From an inscription inside the mosque.

Selected bibliography:

Bourouiba, A., Apports de l'Algérie à l'architecture arabo-islamique, Algiers, 1986.
Marçais, G., L'architecture musulmane d'Occident, Paris, 1954.
Marçais, G., Tlemcen, 'Les villes d'art célèbres' (collection), Paris, 1950; Blida, 2004.

Citation of this web page:

Ali Lafer "Djama’a Sidi Bel-Hasan (mosque)" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2025. 2025.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;dz;Mon01;5;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 05