Kairouan

Kairouan: see Qayrawan, Al, Tunisia.

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Kairouan

 or Al-Qayrawan

City (pop., 1994: 102,600), northeastern Tunisia. A religious centre of Islam, it was founded in 670 by the Arab general Sidi 'Uqbah and became the first Arab city in the Maghrib. It was chosen as the Maghrib capital by the Aghlabid dynasty c. 800. It served as an administrative, commercial, religious, and intellectual centre under the Fatimid and Zirid dynasties. The rise of Tunis, the new capital, led to Kairouan's decline and its devastation by Bedouin in the 11th century. It is the site of the 9th-century Great Mosque of the Qayrawan, one of the city's 150 mosques.

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Kairouan, Kairwan, Qairwan

a city in NE Tunisia: one of the holy cities of Islam; pilgrimage and trading centre. Pop.: 124 000 (2005 est.)

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Kairouan 

a city in eastern Tunisia; administrative center of Kairouan wilayat. Population, 46, 000 (1966). Railroad station and highway junction; it is an important historical and commercial and industrial center of the country. The city has domestic manufacture of carpets and leather goods, as well as enterprises of the food industry.

Kairouan was founded in a.d. 670; in the early eighth century it became the residence of the Umayyad vicegerents in Maghreb. In the eighth century it was twice the center of the rebellious Kharijites. From 800 to 909 it was the capital of the Aghlabite dynasty (this was the city’s zenith). After the capital was moved to Mahdia by the Fatimids, the political significance of Kairouan began to decrease. It long retained its role as Tunisia’s religious, theological, and scientific center. In the 11th century, invading Bedouin devastated the city; it was restored by the Hafsids in the 13th century. In 1881, in spite of stubborn resistance, Kairouan was occupied by French colonizers; since 1956 it has been a part of independent Tunisia. It is a pilgrimage site for Maghreb Muslims.

One of the largest monuments of Moresque architecture—the Great Mosque (Sidi Okba; the foundation was laid in 670, and it was rebuilt in 836; additions were made and restoration carried out in 863, the 13th century, the 14th century, the 17th century, and later), with a many-columned hall, a courtyard surrounded by arcades, and a minaret—is located in Kairouan, as is the Mosque of the Three Doors (866). The city has a museum of Islamic art.

REFERENCE

Sebag, P. Le Grande mosque de Kairouan. Paris, 1963.