Sights in Tlemcen
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Mosque & Tomb of Sidi Boumediene
About 1.6km southeast of the centre, as the crow flies, lies one of Algeria’s most beautiful complexes, the Mosque & Tomb of Sidi Boumediene, restored by craftsmen from Fès in 1986. Abu Madyan Shu’ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari, to give him his full name, was born near Seville around 1115 and studied with Islamic mystics in Morocco before settling in Bejaya on the north Algerian coast and creating his own Sufi circle. A mystic, poet and man of great integrity – he was called the Sheikh of Sheikhs and the Nurturer – Abu Madyan, or Sidi Boumediene, as the Algerians call him, died in Tlemcen in 1197, on his way back to Marrakech. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage and …
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Mansourah
Just under 3km from the Mechouar, Mansourah – the victorious – never lived up to its name. It started as the camp where Merinid sultan Abou Yacoub settled his army in 1299, when he besieged Tlemcen. The siege lasted eight years, during which the camp became a residence, complete with palace and mosque. Just as the city was about to fall, the sultan was murdered by one of his slaves and the Merinids retreated. Remains of the 12m-high walls that protected the camp stretch across the olive groves far into the distance. The main sight here, though, is the remains of the massive mosque, rebuilt by Sultan Abou el-Hassan of Fès when he came to besiege Tlemcen in 1335. The pr…
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Mechouar & Chambre de l'Artisanat et des Métiers
Very little remains of the early settlement of Agadir, but the camp Youssef ben Tachfine occupied during his siege of Agadir has now become the Mechouar (entrance on av Cdt Ferradj). A citadel was built over the camp in 1145 and has been one of the town’s centrepieces ever since. The Zianide ruler Yaghmorassen moved his residence inside the Mechouar walls in the early 14th century and a mosque was built in the 1310s. The Ottoman admiral Barbarossa used it as his stronghold in the 16th century and the French followed suit after the fall of Tlemcen, using it as a barracks and hospital. Today the Mechouar offers a place of peace inside its massive walls and across its broad …
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Grand Mosque
Tlemcen’s Grand Mosque is one of North Africa’s most important Islamic buildings. Begun by the Almoravid leader Youssef ben Tachfine around 1091, it has been substantially rebuilt several times over the centuries but retains some important early features, including the mihrab, elaborately decorated in stucco and carved stone, and a fine cupola with a massive chandelier. More impressive, though, is the atmosphere of reverence that fills the building. There are 133 steps to the top of the minaret, the oldest in this part of the Maghreb and the highest in town. To visit the mosque, you need to observe the instruction that ‘women must wear long clothes’.
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Tlemcen Museum
Given the wealth of history, you would be forgiven for expecting the museum to be equally rich. It is not. The collection used to be housed in the mosque of Sidi Bel Hassan, on place Mohamed Khemisti, but now occupies a 1905 college building. Arranged over two floors, the collection is basic and the arrangement is confusing, with Almoravid, Merenid and Zianid coins, brass lamps, carved stile and stucco all jumbled together. Among the treasures are 15th-century carved epitaphs from royal tombs. Also worth finding are the 1940s oil paintings by local artist Abdelhalim Hemeche.
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Mosque of Sidi Bel Hassan
The 12th century Mosque of Sidi Bel Hassan, built in 1297 by the son of the noted local ruler Yaghmorassen, was dedicated to a local holy man. The squares are busy throughout the day, particularly after prayers, when the cafés are busy and men sit under the shade trees. Northwest of here, at the end of rue Docteur ben Zerdjeb, is the lively Kissaria, the market area.
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Town Hall
Tlemcen revolves around these twin squares, divided by rue de l'Independence. On the south side is the old colonial-era Town Hall (1843), opposite is the Grand Mosque.
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