|Sketch of a minaret in Tafraoute|
The minaret, or منارة minara in Arabic, meaning 'lighthouse' or 'beacon', is the most distinguishing feature of the mosque. It is used for the adhan or Call to prayer, and is made up of a base, shaft and gallery, which is often decorated.
|Zellij tiles cover this octagonal minaret|
from Tetouan, in the north.
The majority of the minarets in Morocco are simple and square in shape, like this one ( above, left). The bar to the left of the spire marks the qibbla, the direction toward Mecca; the speaker, center, is how the muezzin projects the call to prayer.
This is the only cylindrical minaret in Morocco,
built in the village of Moulay Idriss in 1939.
|This minaret in Fez belongs to a Zawiya, |
a mosque dedicated to a Sufi brotherhood
|A minaret in Monastir,Tunisia|