Name of Monument:

St Andrew’s Church

Location:

Tangier, Morocco

Date of Monument:

Hegira 13th-14th centuries / AD 19th centuries

Period / Dynasty:

Alawid

Patron(s):

Sultan Hasan I (AH 1290–1312 / AD 1873–94); the Anglican Church.

Description:

During the 1880s, the English Consulate in Tangier organised a collection for the construction of an Anglican church in recognition of the increasing importance of the English community of the Straits town.
The 'Alawid Sultan Hasan I contributed to the campaign with a donation of a plot of land, part of which was reserved for the church and part for a British cemetery. The Moroccan king was also keen for the church to be built using architectural features common to a Muslim place of worship, and he appointed decorators and workmen accordingly.
The square church tower takes the form of a minaret without a lantern. Its four sides are covered with plasterwork sculptures mixed with geometric knotwork around the poly-lobed blind arch.
The pointed horseshoe arch entrance is simply whitewashed and crowned with a wooden canopy covered with glazed tiles.
Inside the church, the naves are separated by gemeled marble columns.
The choir is accessed through a festooned horseshoe arch crowned with floral decoration and framed with a band that bears an inscription in kufic Arabic characters taken from the Gospels.
The niche, located behind the altar, is decorated with sculpted plaster lacework bearing with the motto of the Nasrids of Granada: 'There is no victor but God'.
The ceilings are covered with painted wooden panelling with interlaced star patterns.

In the 1880s, an Anglican church was built in Tangier under the aegis of Hasan I, who provided the land and had the temple built by Moroccan craftsmen, incorporating some features of an Islamic place of worship: a bell tower in the form of a minaret with no lantern and sides decorated with plaster sculptures of blind arches and geometric interlacing designs; a horseshoe archway beneath a wooden canopy covered with glazed tiles; a choir accessed through a festooned horseshoe arch framed by a strip bearing a kufic inscription from the Gospels; and a ceiling lined with painted panelling.

How Monument was dated:

The date of construction is engraved on an inside wall of the building.

Selected bibliography:

No extensive study has been made.
Andalusian Morocco: A Discovery in Living Art, pp.199–200.

Citation of this web page:

Kamal Lakhdar "St Andrew’s Church" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2026. 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;32;en

Prepared by: Kamal LakhdarKamal Lakhdar

Linguiste et sociologue de formation, c'est en autodidacte que Kamal Lakhdar s'est adonné aux études d'histoire du Maroc et du monde arabo-musulman, en axant tout spécialement ses recherches sur l'histoire de Rabat.
Sa carrière de haut fonctionnaire l'a conduit à occuper des fonctions de premier plan auprès de différents ministères. Il a notamment été membre du cabinet du ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur, conseiller du ministre des Finances, conseiller du ministre du Commerce et de l'Industrie, directeur de cabinet du ministre du Tourisme, chargé de mission auprès du Premier ministre et directeur de cabinet du Premier ministre.
Parallèlement, Kamal Lakhdar mène des activités de journaliste et d'artiste peintre – il a d'ailleurs été membre du Conseil supérieur de la Culture.
Copyedited by: Margot Cortez
Translation by: Laurence Nunny
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen

MWNF Working Number: MO 41