30. Tlemcen.
The Station lies to the E., 6 min. beyond the Porte de Sidi Bou-Médine (Pl. D, 2, 3).
Hotels. Hôtel de France (Pl. b; C, 3), Rue de Fez, R. 2½–4, B. 1¼, déj. 3. D. 4, pens. 9–12, omn. 1 fr.; Hôtel Charles (Pl. a; C, 2), Place des Victoires, R. 3, B. ¾, déj. or D. 3, pens. 7½, omn. 1 fr., good, though plain, with restaurant.—Cafés in the Place de la Mairie, Place des Victoires, etc.
Carriages (mostly with three horses, poor but not dear; fares according to bargain) in the Place des Victoires and Esplanade du Méchouar.
Post & Telegraph Office (Pl. B, 2), Boulevard National.
One Day and a Half. 1st. Forenoon, *Great Mosque (p. [189]), Museum (p. [190]), *Sidi el-Haloui Mosque (p. [191]), Agâdir (p. [196]); afternoon, *Mansura (p. [193]).—2nd. *Sidi Bou-Médine (p. [194]). Mosques open daily 8–11 a.m.; at other times a permit of the sub-prefect (see Pl. B, 2) is required (comp. also p. [174]).
Tlemcen (2658 ft.), the old capital of the central Maghreb (Maghreb el-Oust), was in the middle ages, along with Fez, one of the great trading stations between the W. Sahara and the Mediterranean, and had a factory of the Genoese and the Venetians. It is now, after Oran, the most important town in the province, with 37,300 inhab. (including 25,500 Mohammedans, chiefly Berbers and Moors, and 5000 Jews); it possesses the only Medersa (p. [228]) in the province of Oran, founded in 1904, and is the chief military post on the W. frontier of Algeria. The town is very charmingly situated on a flat hill at the base of a ridge crowned with the Kubba Lalla-Setti (3363 ft.), a spur of the Jebel Terni or Massif de Tlemcen. Beyond the extensive hilly region to the N., sloping steeply down to the valleys of the Isser and the Tafna (p. [185]), we descry the bold mountains of the Traras group (p. [198]) and of Jebel Sebaa-Chioukh (p. [185]). The nearer environs of the town, on the upper margin of the plateau, are exuberantly fertile. Luxuriant fruit-bearing hedges are interspersed with groves of gigantic olive, carob, and pistachio trees, from whose shade peep forth the white domes of numerous tombs of saints (p. [172]).
Tlemcen still contains historic memorials of its mediæval prime and a number of Moorish works of art, mostly of the Abdelwadite and Merinide periods (p. [188]). These last, like the buildings of Fez and Kairwan (p. [372]), are among the most interesting in Barbary. Their great charm consists in the fact that their native characteristics have been preserved in a picturesque environment where customs and dress differ but slightly from those of the ancient East.
Pomaria, the earliest settlement in this region, was once, like Altava (p. [186]) and Numerus Syrorum (p. [197]), a Roman camp for the defence of the most important military road in Mauretania Cæsariensis (p. [244]), but in Roman times, notwithstanding its favourable position, it was outstripped by Siga (p. [185]). On its site, by the time of Sidi Okba (p. [322]), there had already sprung up the Berber settlement of Agâdir, which, under Idris I. (p. [95]) in 790, became the fortified capital of the E. province of Morocco for defence against the Kharijite kingdom in Tiaret (p. [208]). For seven centuries from that time onwards it was involved in all the party struggles for the possession of Barbary. During the conflicts of Omaiyades (p. [69]) and Fatimites (p. [323]), the governors of Agâdir, descendants of Solaïmân ben-Abdallah, brother of Idris I., maintained their position as vassals of one or other of these dynasties, but in 973 the town was sacked by Bologgîn ez-Ziri (p. [323]) in the course of a war against the Omaiyades.
In 1081 the Almoravide Yûsuf ibn Têshufîn (p. [95]) appeared before the gates of Agâdir, and on the site of his camp (Berber ‘tagrârt’) founded the new town of Tagrârt, afterwards the Telensîn or Tlimsân of the Moors, and united W. Algeria with Morocco. In 1145 the vicinity of Tagrârt witnessed the decisive battle between Tâkhfîn ben-Ali (p. [183]) and Abd el-Mûmen (p. [95]) which sealed the fate of the Almoravide kingdom. Since then Tagrârt appears in history as the seat of Almohade governors of the family of Abd el-Wâd, settled near Tlemcen, a branch of the powerful Berber tribe of the Zenata, and also as a military camp, while the lower classes only inhabited Agâdir.
The fall of the Almohades (p. [95]) gave rise to the kingdom of Tlemcen, which was soon extended to the W. to the Mulûya (p. [124]) and to the E. to Bougie (p. [262]). The first independent monarch was Yarmorâsen ben-Zeiyân (1239–82), of the Abdelwadites, who, with the aid of Moorish artists from Andalusia, transformed Tlemcen, his capital, into a rival of Fez as one of the most brilliant art-centres in Barbary.
Embellished in legend and in poetry, and most famous among episodes in the annals or the Maghreb were the two sieges of Tlemcen by the Merinides (p. [95]). The first siege by Abû Yakûb and his grandson Abû-Tsâbit Omar (1299–1307) commenced with the foundation of the fortified town of El-Mahalla el-Mansura, which, saving the mosque, was razed to the ground by the Abdelwadites after the withdrawal of the Moroccan army, but was rebuilt by Abû’l-Hasen Ali (1335–7) on the occasion of the second, and this time successful, siege of Tlemcen.
To the brief sway of the Merinides (1337–59) Tlemcen is indebted for almost all the important buildings outside of its walls. The chief residence of Abû’l-Hasen Ali (d. 1348), next to Fez, was Mansura, where he erected a new ‘palace of victory’ as his kasba; but the place was abandoned under Abû Inân Fâres (1348–58), and from that time down to the French period it merely served as a stone-quarry.
During the brilliant reign of Abû Hammu Mûsa II. (1359–89), the first of the Ziyanides (1359–1517), the younger Abdelwadite dynasty, his court vied with that of Granada as a resort of artists, poets, and scholars; but from that time onwards Tlemcen shared the general decadence of Barbary. It was not only the chief scene of all the conflicts between the Merinides and Hafsides (p. [323]), but was grievously torn by internal dissensions also, so that it soon lost all importance. After the overthrow of the Ziyanides by Horuk Barbarossa (p. [221]), and after a short occupation by the Spaniards (1518), Tlemcen became a poor provincial town in the beylic of Oran. The present town-walls (1855–6) and a whole new quarter are creations of the French régime, under which, in 1842, Tlemcen was incorporated with their new colony of Algeria.
Comp. Marçais’s book on Tlemcen mentioned at p. [175] and A. Bel’s ‘Tlemcen et ses Environs’ (Oran, 1909).
From the Porte de Sidi Bou-Médine (Pl. D, 2, 3), the chief gate of the town, the Rue de Sidi Bel-Abbès leads in 2 min. to the Esplanade du Méchouar (Pl. C, 3), planted with fine plane-trees. On the left rises the—
Méchouar (Arabic meshwâr, the king’s castle), the residence of the Abdelwadites and Ziyanides, erected by Yarmorâsen about 1255, a great quadrangular pile, forming like the Alhambra a complete quarter of the town. The building was largely destroyed during a revolt against Hassan, Bey of Mascara, in 1670, and in 1842 was replaced by French barracks. The only relics of the original edifice are the Castle Wall, built by Abû’l-Abbâs Ahmed, the thirteenth Ziyanide, with its modern clock-tower of 1843, and the Castle Mosque, founded in 1317, which was long used as a storehouse. The latter, having been converted into a chapel for the military hospital, has lost its original character in the interior (adm. on application).
From the E. end of the Esplanade the Rue du Théâtre leads to the Place des Victoires (Pl. C, D, 2), planted with trees, from the parapet of which we look down on the E. Mohammedan quarter (p. [191]) and the hills of the Safsaf valley.
A little to the N.W. is the Place de la Mairie (Pl. C, 2), which, together with the Place d’Alger (p. [190]) on its W. side, forms the business centre of the town. On its S. side rises the Mairie (Pl. C, 2), erected in 1843. In the court are two onyx columns from Mansura, bearing two huge stone balls which were thrown into the town during one of the Merinide sieges.
The *Great Mosque (Pl. C, 2; Arabic Jâma el-Kebîr), the back of which bounds the N. side of the square, now the only edifice of the Almoravide period at Tlemcen, is very important in art-history as one of the few Moorish buildings of the 12th cent. that have survived without alteration. The inscription on the frieze of the drum of the mihrâb dome records the name of the founder, the caliph Ali ibn Yûsuf, who with the aid of Andalusian artists erected the court and the house of prayer adjacent to the Kasr el-Kadîm, or royal castle, in 1135–8. The minaret was not added till the reign of Yarmorâsen (after 1250). The kubba at the S.W. angle, adjoining the Rue de France, once perhaps the tomb of Yarmorâsen and several of the Ziyanides, now contains the vault of Mohammed ben-Merzûg. On the E. side of the mosque, near the old vine in the side-street, is a second saint’s tomb, the kubba of Ahmed Bel-Hasen el-Ghomari (d. 1466). The library, a later addition next to the minaret, has been removed by the French.
The square court of the mosque, which we enter on the E. side, is flanked on three sides by triple or quadruple arcades; the two aisles of the N. arcade, which precede the minaret, are of later date. The irregular plan of the arcades and of the main portal leading into the nave of the mosque was probably due to the situation of the castle. The onyx pavement of the court is preserved in part only.
The Interior, consisting of a central nave (15 by 10½ ft.) with twelve narrower aisles, is entered by five portals on the S. side of the court, whose arches are of round or pointed horseshoe form or multifoil, and also by two E. portals. The arcades, whose arches are mostly horseshoe-shaped, but in a few cases pointed, rest on short pillars. The open roof is well preserved. The nave is crowned with two domes, the nearer rising behind the sedda (p. [180]), while the second, over the mihrâb chapel, shows beginnings of stalactite vaulting. The great candelabrum under the central dome is modern and is for the most part an imitation of the old one said to have been presented by Yarmorâsen and now in the Museum (see below). The mimbar and kursi (p. [451]) are of no artistic value, and the maksûra (p. [71]) has disappeared. The elegant stucco ornamentation of the *Mihrâb, which even extends to the exterior, where the stone slabs are framed with multifoil arches, recalls the mosque of Cordova. The prayer-niche is lighted by three perforated windows of plaster. Behind the mihrâb is the sacristy.
The Minaret, 115 ft. high, resembling the tower of Agâdir (p. [196]), affords a beautiful view of the town and environs.
On the W. side of the Place d’Alger (Pl. C, 2), where the ruins of the famous Medersa Jadîda or Tâkhfînîya, a school for the learned erected by the Abdelwadite Abû Tâkhfîn (1322–37), existed down to 1876, rises the—
*Sidi Bel-Hassen Mosque, now the Museum (Pl. 2, B, C, 2; custodian in the court of the Mairie; fee ½ fr.), erected in 1296 by the Abdelwadite Abû Saïd Otsmân. It consists of nave and two aisles, with a low minaret. Used by the French successively as a storehouse and a school, it was carefully restored in 1900, and is now a perfect gem in the interior. The stucco *Decoration of the walls, preserved in part only, with its rich and graceful arabesques (p. [445]), and the geometrical ornamentation of the round-arched plaster windows, recall the sumptuous rooms of the Alcázar at Seville and the Alhambra of Granada. The half-dome of the **Mihrâb, whose horseshoe mural arch rests on two small columns of onyx, is borne by stalactite or honeycomb vaulting. The ancient roof of cedar is well preserved in the left aisle only.
Below the two friezes with Cufic inscriptions adjoining the Mihrâb are fragments, built into the wall, of fayence tiles from the old Medersa Tâkhfînîya and the Méchouar. The beautiful onyx basin once belonged to the latrine-court of the Great Mosque. Along the walls are several Roman and numerous Mohammedan tombstones, some of them belonging to kings of Tlemcen. Near the entrance is the so-called Coudée Royale, a marble slab from the Kessaria (comp. p. [191]), bearing an ell-measure and regulations for the trade of Christian merchants with the natives (1328). In the second room are the old candelabrum and remains of the old maksûra of the Great Mosque (comp. above), Moorish and Turkish tiles, etc. On the first floor is the Geological Museum.
The dirty streets to the S. of the Place de la Mairie and the Place d’Alger, which have been laid out in straight lines under the French régime, belong to the Jewish Quarter, where, however, a few of the old one-storied houses with a kind of sunken flat, still survive.
A pleasanter walk may be taken through the Mohammedan Quarters, especially that to the E. of the Place de la Mairie, where we may witness, especially on market-day (Mon.), the most lively and picturesque scenes of native life. The busiest points are the Marché Couvert (Pl. C, 2) in the Place du Kessaria, where the Italian merchants had their offices in the middle ages, and also the Rue de Mascara (Pl. C, D, 2, 1) and the Rue Kaldoun (Pl. C, D, 1). Adjoining the Rue de Mascara, once the Sûk el-Berada’in (saddlers’ market), is an impasse called the Derb el-Msoufa, in which is situated the little Mosque of Sidi Senoussi (Pl. D, 2; his tomb is near Sidi Bou-Médine, p. [194]), with a graceful minaret inlaid with tiles and a small house of prayer on the first floor.
In the street between the Rue de Mascara and the Rue Kaldoun are the so-called Bains des Teinturiers (Pl. D, 1; Hammâm es-Sebbâghîn), an ancient Moorish bath-house (12th cent.?), the plan of which seems to have been an exact copy of the Roman bath.
The ante-room, now much altered, was apparently the tepidarium. Straight on we come to the apodyterium, a domed room on twelve short mediæval columns, with a gallery running round it. To the left of this room is the caldarium in three sections, with the heating apparatus on the E. side. The S. side-room is the frigidarium.
At the end of the Rue Kaldoun we leave the town by the Porte de l’Abattoir (Pl. D, 1; road to Agâdir, see p. [196]), and turn to the left, skirting the town-walls, above the dilapidated Sidi Lahsen Mosque, built by Abû’l-Abbâs Ahmed (p. [189]), which has an elegant minaret and an interior restored in the Turkish period.
On a slope near the N.E. angle of the town-walls, below the railway, and formerly below the Bâb Sidi’l-Haloui, is the tomb of the saint of that name (d. 1307), adjoined by the—
*Sidi el-Haloui Mosque, a creation of the Merinide Abû Inân Fâres (p. [188]). The pinnacled outer gateway leads to the now freely restored chief portal, with its fine inlaid mosaic tiles, two friezes with inscriptions, and a projecting timber roof.
The ground-plan of this mosque is similar to that of the slightly earlier mosque of Sidi Bou-Médine (p. [194]). From the court, enclosed by a single arcade, we enter the house of prayer with its nave (11 ft. broad), double aisles (10 ft.), and transept. The square mihrâb chapel is covered by a slightly elevated tiled roof instead of a dome. The old timber ceiling of the interior has recently been much restored, and remains of the superb stucco decoration have lately been brought to light from under the whitewash. The mihrâb has lost all its rich ornamentation save the stalactite vaulting. The eight onyx *Columns, brought from Mansura, which support the pointed horseshoe arches of the arcades, are remarkable for their beautiful capitals in the Moorish style.
The minaret added at the W. angle of the court, with its multifoil arched niches in the two lower stories and reticulated work on the upper, resembles that of the mosque of Sidi Bou-Médine. A portal opposite with a projecting roof leads to the domed Latrines.
We now follow the path to the W., skirting the town-walls, and affording fine views, to the Porte du Nord (Pl. B, 1), through which we enter the Rue de France. From this street the Boulevard National soon diverges to the right to the large Place Cavaignac (Pl. B, 1, 2), the chief square in the uniformly built French quarter. The font in the church of St. Michel (Pl. B, 2) came from the mosque of Mansura.
On the E. side of the church runs the Rue Ximénès, intersecting the whole town. This street, or the Rue de la Victoire (Pl. C, B, 2), which begins at the Place d’Algier, forms the chief approach to the S. W. Mohammedan Quarter, which was inhabited in the Turkish period mainly by Kuluglis (p. [171]). At the S. end of the Rue Ximénès, on the left, is the interesting Ecole Professionnelle Indigène de Tapis (Pl. C, 4; adm. daily 8–11 and 2–5, except on Sun., Frid., and great festivals).
The busy Rue Haëdo, prolonging the Rue de la Victoire, leads to the S.W. to the Porte de Fez (Pl. A, 4). In the Rue Sidi-Brahim, the first side-street on the left, is the—
Sidi Brahim Mosque (Pl. B, 3), formerly belonging to the Medersa Yakûbîya. The Medersa was built in 1362 by Abû Hammu Mûsa II. (p. [188]), and named after his father, but the last vestiges of it were removed in 1846. This small mosque, with nave and double aisles, received its present decoration in the Turkish period. The mihrâb, adorned with the Turkish crescent, has mural tiles with gold lustre in the Gubbio style. The present pulpit, from which the Friday prayer was recited for the Kuluglis, was executed by the Turkish artist Mohammed Ben-Hasen Ben-Ferfara (1831–2), and the door of the old sacristy was carved by Sâlim Bu-Jenân Ben-Ferfara. The Kubba of Sidi Brahim (d. 1401), adjoining the mosque, still contains its old geometric stucco decoration and mosaic tiles.
The Oulâd el-Imâm Mosque (Pl. B, 3), to the N. of the Rue Haëdo, was built about 1310 by the Abdelwadite Abû Hammu I. as a chapel for the Medersa el-Kadîma, the oldest school of the learned at Tlemcen, but is now in a sad state of ruin. The minaret still shows traces of fayence mosaics. The fine mihrâb was probably redecorated under the Ziyanides.
In the Rue d’Hennaya, near the Fez Gate, rises the modern Medersa (Pl. A, B, 3), a tasteful new-Moorish edifice (visitors admitted).
To the W. of the modern town-walls, between the Porte de Fez and the Porte d’Oran, lies the Grand Bassin (Pl. A, 3; Arabic Sahrîj el-Kebîr or ben-Bedda), a large reservoir, similar to the reservoirs of Kairwan and Marakesh, constructed of concrete, 220 yds. long, 110 yds. broad, and 10 ft. deep, now used as a drill-ground. It is said to have been made by Abû Tâkhfîn (p. [190]). According to a tradition the last of the Ziyanide dynasty were drowned here by Horuk Barbarossa (p. [221]) in 1517.
To the N.W. of the French town-walls, between the Porte d’Oran and the Porte du Nord (p. [192]), rises the *Bâb el-Kermâdîn (Pl. A, 1; potters’ gate), which already existed in the time of Yarmorâsen (p. [188]), so named from the potsherds contained in its concrete masonry. The gateway, with its four towers and quadrangle, resembles the propugnaculum of late-Roman town fortifications.
The *Ruins of Mansura, the old entrenched town of the Merinides (p. [188]), are reached from the Porte de Fez (p. [192]) by the road to Lalla-Marnia (p. [197]), to the S.W., in 20–25 min. (carr. there and back 2½–3 fr.), The road passes (¼ hr.) the so-called Bâb el-Khemîs, a brick structure of unknown use, now much restored. A little above it are the ruins of a second building of uncertain origin (possibly the ancient Mosalla).
In 6 min. more we reach the old *Town Wall of Mansura, near the former E. gate of the town, within the precincts of which, to the left, above the road, is ensconced the modern agricultural village of Mansura amid luxuriant vegetation. The walls, 40 ft. high, constructed of concrete, enclose a great irregular quadrilateral space of about 4400 yds. in length, and are still largely preserved on the N.W. and S.W. sides. Of the towers, about 80 in number, connected by a crenellated passage, most are rectangular in form, but the four far-projecting corner-towers, like the eight gate-towers, are quadrangular.
Near the old E. gate, above the road, are a Bridge and remains of a rudely paved Street of the Merinide period. Of the old Palace of Victory, the Kasba of Abû’l-Hasen Ali (p. [188]), once sumptuously fitted up, there are now, on the highest ground in the town precincts, at the S.E. angle of the present village, a few scanty relics only, the chief of which is the inner court, resembling the myrtle court of the Alhambra (p. [83]).
Close to the old W. gate, on a plateau above the road, rises the **Mansura Tower (130 ft.), the minaret of the chief mosque, founded by Abû Yakûb (p. [188]). The back-wall, the staircase, the upper platform, and the muezzin’s turret have fallen in, but the ruin, with its golden-toned masonry glowing in the sunshine, its peaceful surroundings, and the superb view from its base, has an indescribable charm. The ruin was restored in 1877.
The portal of the minaret formed the central entrance to the court of the mosque. Of the three concentric gateway arches the inmost horseshoe arch, resting on two onyx columns, has been entirely renewed. The first story here, as in no other Moorish minaret, is adorned with a balcony, borne by corner brackets and stalactite pendentives, now without columns. The second story, relieved by narrow window openings, has the usual reticulated ornamentation, while the upper story is adorned with multifoil arched niches. Remains of the fayence mosaics are still visible at places.
The custodian, who has generally to be asked for in the village, shows the ruins of the court and of the mosque itself, which once had thirteen arcades.
The hill-village of Sidi Bou-Médine (2841 ft.), picturesquely situated amid olive-groves on the slopes of Jebel Mefroûch, 20 min. to the E. of Tlemcen, contains, like Mansura, some of the finest existing memorials of the Merinide period. It was once named Eubbâd el-Fûki (‘upper Eubbâd’), and at a very early period belonged to a monastery, the Ribât el-Eubbâd, but it derives its present name from Sidi Abû-Median, a scholar from Seville (about 1126–97), who was buried here by order of the Almohade Mohammed en-Nâsir (1198–1213). Around the kubba of that great scholar and saint, which for centuries attracted countless pilgrims, are grouped the buildings of the Merinide sovereigns.
The road to Sidi Bou-Médine, only the lower half of which is fit for driving, branches to the right from the Sidi Bel-Abbès and Aïn-Temouchent road, 2 min. from the Porte de Sidi Bou-Médine, and passes below the Mohammedan Cemetery (makbara), with its wealth of cypresses. By the wayside are a number of saints’ tombs, mostly in ruins, among which is the kubba of Sidi Senoussi (d. 1490), with its green-tiled roof. We pass also the remains of mosque walls and a ruined minaret, which belonged to the village of Eubbâd es-Sefli (‘lower Eubbâd’) once situated here.
We ascend through a defile shaded with fine old fig and cherry trees, and soon reach the lower entrance of the village, whence we go straight on to the mosque, with its conspicuous minaret, and the kubba of the saint (guide quite needless). The outer gateway, decorated anew in the later Turkish period, with its clumsy wooden penthouse in front, is the entrance to a forecourt, within which are the two sacred edifices and the Maison de l’Oukil (now the works-office), a building of the time of Mohammed el-Kebîr (p. [178]), on the site of the ancient Zaouïa or pilgrims’ hospice.
The Kubba of Sidi Bou-Médine, to which steps descend to the left under the penthouse, was restored by the Merinide Abû’l-Hasen Ali (p. [188]), and towards the end of the 18th cent. was injured by a fire. It owes its present decoration, save the four onyx columns from Mansura and the sacred fountain in the vestibule, to Mohammed el-Kebîr, whose artist, named in the inscription on the frieze of the gateway, was El-Hâshmi ben-Sarmashîk (1793). The vault, richly garnished with flags, ostrich-eggs, votive offerings, etc., contains the coffins of Sidi Abû-Median and the Tunisian saint Sidi Abd es-Selâm side by side (custodian 20–30 c.).
The *Mosque, erected in 1339 by Abû’l-Hasen Ali, about the same date as the myrtle-court palace of the Alhambra (comp. p. [80]), is one of the most brilliant creations of the exuberant Moorish art of the 14th cent.; and, thanks to the sanctity of its site, it has survived the wars of the Ziyanide age and resisted the decadence of the Turkish period without serious damage. The custodian is usually to be found in the vestibule of the gateway.
The **Chief Portal, now skilfully restored, is a masterpiece of artistic decoration. The superb outer gateway, whose lofty horseshoe arch opens into the vestibule, is lavishly enriched with fayence mosaics, which show beautiful arabesque patterns in the rectangular stonework of the doorway, and geometrical designs above the frieze with the inscriptions. The gateway is crowned by a tiled roof resting on narrow brackets.
Eleven steps ascend to the vestibule, where the stucco decoration of the upper wall-surfaces vies in beauty with the stalactites of the dome. At the inner gateway the lower part of the doors of cedar-wood has been skilfully encrusted anew with bronze. The door-knockers resemble those of the present Puerta del Perdón at Cordova (p. [70]).
We now cross the simple Court of the Mosque, flanked with single arcades, to the Mosque itself, with its nave and double aisles. The somewhat broader nave and the transept by the wall of the mihrâb recall the ground-plan of Sidi Okba’s Mosque at Kairwan (p. [374]). The arcades, whose horseshoe arches, like those in the court, rest on pillars of masonry, and all the wall-surfaces are encrusted with stucco. The richly coffered stucco ceiling of the aisles is well preserved, but the perforated dome of the mihrâb chapel was tastelessly restored in the later Turkish period. The *Mihrâb, with its stalactite half-dome, its friezes with Cufic inscriptions, and the three perforated plaster windows, deserves special attention. The capitals of the two onyx columns which support the horseshoe arch of the niche are the finest at Tlemcen. The pulpit is modern.
The *Minaret, like the Kutubia at Marakesh, which it resembles in its lowest story, still shows the three copper balls on its muezzin-turret. The rosette ornamentation under the platform is peculiar. The ascent is recommended for the sake of the fine survey we obtain of the village and the beautiful view of the hilly plain of Tlemcen with the minarets of Agâdir (p. [196]) and Mansura.
A few paces above the outer gateway of the mosque court a flight of steps on the right ascends to the old Medersa, now a national school. This edifice, erected by Abû’l-Hasen Ali in 1347, is the only learned school of the kind still preserved in Barbary, besides that of Marakesh; but it has been almost entirely restored, first by Mohammed el-Kebîr about 1793, and lately by the French government. The building is usually shown by the teacher (50 c.).
The portal, ornamented with fayence mosaics and surmounted by a projecting roof like the chief door of the neighbouring mosque, opens into a court, adorned with a fountain and flanked with an arcade. On each side are six cells for the students (tholba, sing. thaleb); and there are four others in the small court adjoining the S.E. angle. The niches in the walls for the books and lamps of the students should be noticed. In the centre of the S. wall of the court is the entrance to the old room for study and prayer, with a mihrâb and a wooden dome which was probably restored in the time of Mohammed el-Kebîr. The stucco enrichment of the walls is best preserved on the entrance side. The old court of ablutions adjoins the N.W. angle of the main quadrangle.
The platform of the upper floor of the court, where there are twelve more cells, affords the best view of the minaret of the mosque.
At a small house near the Medersa we obtain the key (fee 30 c.) of the so-called Petit Palais d’el-Eubbâd, a ruin popularly called Dâr es-Soltân (palace of the sultan), situated below the Kubba of Sidi Bou-Médine. The building, which also dates from the Merinide period, was more probably a hospice for the richer pilgrims. It comprises three courts with small side-rooms or alcoves, like those of the Alhambra, and remains of baths and latrines. A visit to it hardly repays if time is limited.
On the way to the ‘Dâr es-Soltân’ we pass the Latrine Court of the mosque and the so-called Kubba of Sidi el-Eubbâd. From (2 min. farther) the E. end of the village we may descend, and cross the railway, to (6 min.) the Sidi Bel-Abbès road.
This road leads to the E. through olive-groves, and then, turning to the S., through the Safsaf Valley to (¾ hr., or from Tlemcen 1 hr.) the gorge of *El-Ourit (p. [186]; carr. there and back 4–5 fr.). The bridge across it affords a fine view of the valley and the lower waterfalls. (Rfmts.)
The road to Aïn-Temouchent (p. [185]) diverges to the left from the Sidi Bel-Abbès road, at a point 10 min. from the Porte de Sidi Bou-Médine (p. [188]), and about ½ M. farther passes near the gorge of the Oued Metchkâna, which lies a little to the left. Here, beneath superb old terebinths (p. [202]), on the site of the old Cemetery of Agadîr (‘Cimetière de Sidi Yacoub’), are situated the pretty kubba of Sidi Wahhâb, the oldest saint of this region, said to have been a companion of the prophet, and the so-called Tombeau de la Sultane, a dilapidated octagonal domed building (12th cent.?), which served in 1412 as a tomb for a Ziyanide princess.
The ruins of Agâdir (p. [187]) may be reached in about 10 min. from the Porte de l’Abattoir (Pl. D, 1; p. [191]) by the old Safsaf road to the N.E. (p. [185]). Of the chief mosque founded here by Idris I. (p. [95]) the only relic is the elegant *Minaret, 105 ft. in height, erected by Yarmorâsen at the same time as the tower of the Great Mosque (p. [190]). The substructures, 19 ft. high, composed of Roman blocks of stone from the ancient Pomaria, and with Roman inscriptions built into them outside and in the staircase, probably belonged to an earlier minaret.—A little to the E., beyond the ravine, are preserved a few fragments of the E. Wall of Agâdir built by the Berbers. A few paces to the N. of the road rises the handsome Kubba of Sidi’d-Dâoudi (d. 1011); the present building is probably of the Merinide period.