Qarawīyīn-Moschee

The Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque stands in the medina of Fès el-Bali in Fez, Morocco. It is also known in Arabic sources as "Jami' al-Jami'a", the university mosque. The building dates to the mid-9th century and forms part of a World Heritage Site. The German Wikipedia article describes it as the most historically and politically significant mosque in Morocco. It lies within the old urban fabric around Derb Lamdrassa.

Sources credit the founding of the mosque to Fatima al-Fihri. According to the account handed down, she financed the construction from her own wealth and devoted everything she had inherited to the project. She is also said to have fasted until the work was finished and then prayed in the mosque in thanks. Construction began under the Idrisid ruler Yahya I.

In later periods the townspeople and their rulers took responsibility for enlarging, restoring and running the mosque. The Zenata emirs, with help from the Umayyads of al-Andalus, added about 3,000 square metres. The Almoravids later carried out a further enlargement.