Mosque of the Three Doors

Tunisia


Founded in AD 866 by Mohammed Bin Kairoun El Maafri, a holy man from the Spanish city of Cordoba, this mosque has an elaborate facade exhibiting strong Andalusian influences. The mosque’s three arched doorways are topped by intricate friezes of Kufic script (two of which name the mosque’s founder) interspersed with floral reliefs and crowned with a carved cornice. The interior is off-limits to non-Muslims.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Tunisia attractions

1. Medina

0.07 MILES

Kairouan’s medina feels like it ebbs and flows to a different rhythm to modern Tunisia. Long protected by its monumental walls and babs (gates), most of…

2. Bir Barouta

0.16 MILES

Here a blinkered camel walks in a circle, drawing water from a 17th-century holy well that legend says is connected to the Zamzam spring in Mecca. It's…

3. Zaouia of Sidi Abid Al Ghariani

0.17 MILES

Dating from the 14th century, this two-storey complex features horseshoe arches painted in black and white, marble columns with carved capitals, a painted…

4. Makhroud Bazaar

0.17 MILES

Just off the medina's major pedestrian thoroughfare, this bazaar next to Restaurant Marhaba is dedicated to Kairouan's much-loved makhroud (date-filled…

5. Great Mosque

0.3 MILES

Also known as Sidi Okba Mosque, after the founder of Kairouan who built the first mosque on this site in AD 670, this is North Africa’s holiest Islamic…

6. ONAT Museum

0.39 MILES

This museum in the Office National de L'Artisanat headquarters houses a collection of rugs. This is the organisation that accredits all carpets sold in…

7. Zaouia of Sidi Amor Abbada

0.42 MILES

Identifiable by its seven white cupolas, this zaouia (complex surrounding the tomb of a saint) was built in 1860 to commemorate Sidi Amor Abbada, a local…

8. Aghlabid Basins

0.77 MILES

These cisterns, built by the Aghlabids in the 9th century, are more impressive because of their engineering sophistication than as sights in themselves…