Right next to the large Ben Youssef Mosque, in the middle of the souks of the medina of Marrakesh, lies the Koubba of the Almoravids.
Anyone walking through the medina of Marrakesh in search of the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the old Koran school worth seeing, may stumble across the small monument by chance and wonder what kind of beautiful building it is.
Our article on the Koubba of the Almoravids gives you some background information and reveals who should visit this monument.
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What is the Koubba of the Almoravids?
The small domed building was the center of an extensive fountain complex and probably served as a ritual washing place for the nearby mosque.
The Koubba is located directly in front of the entrance to the great Ben Youssef Mosque and in the immediate vicinity of the Musée de Marrakech and the Ben Youssef Madrasa. This area, the Ben Youssef quarter, is the religious center of old Marrakech and the oldest quarter in the city.
A koubba means nothing more than a dome — the architectural term Cupola is derived from the Arabic qubba. The word koubba is also used to describe distinctive buildings that are covered by a dome. The term is often used for tombs or shrines.
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The Koubba of the Almoravids is officially called Koubba al-Baadiyn and is sometimes also spelled Kubbah, Qoubba or Qubba.
Sometimes the building is also called Dôme des Almoravides, which is simply the French name for the Koubba. In English, the name Almoravid Dome is therefore also used for the Koubba.
Next to the koubba was an extensive complex with cisterns, underground canals, tapped springs and latrines.
The water system was fed by springs, rainwater and underground water pipes from the mountains.
Today we only see the koubba, but the springs and the water supply facilities were once the most important elements of this place, while the koubba was only of a supplementary nature.
The history of the Koubba of the Almoravids
In the 12th century, the Almoravid dynasty ruled a large empire that stretched from Spain via Morocco to present-day Senegal. Originally, the Almoravids were Berbers from the High Atlas, but they quickly expanded their territory.
In 1062 AD, the Almoravid ruler Youssef Ben Tachfin allegedly founded the city of Marrakesh in order to have a trading point for the profitable caravan trade and to cement his power with a new capital.
Just 40 years later, the city had grown so rapidly that his son Ali Ben Youssef solved the city’s water supply problem with an ingenious system by bringing water from the High Atlas to the city in underground canals.
While his father founded the city, Ali Ben Youssef was responsible for developing Marrakesh into an urban center. He had the first Ben Youssef Mosque built with an adjoining madrasa and other important monuments. An inscription also identifies him as the builder of the Koubba. Unfortunately, large parts of the inscription were destroyed, probably by subsequent rulers, and can no longer tell us anything about the building.
The graceful building stood in the center of the fountain complex for the Ben Youssef Mosque and was apparently used for the ablutions prescribed by the Koran before prayer. However, 2 facts contradict this theory: Why would the fountain basin be built 15 years before the mosque and why was it so far away from the mosque?
Some historians therefore assume that the Koubba was also used for religious purposes and as a mausoleum, but this has not been proven.
The small building was completed around 1120 and remained in use for centuries.
Over the course of time, the structures were restored several times until they fell into oblivion towards the end of the 19th century.
Unfortunately, there are no written records, so we know very little about the history of the entire complex.
In 1948, the Koubba was rediscovered during excavation work by the French scientists J. Meunier and H. Terrasse; it was completely buried under rubble and an absolute chance find. The scientists were immediately impressed by its good condition, without knowing at first what they had actually found.
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The architecture of the Koubba
The building only has a footprint of 5.40 m x 7.30 m, so just under 40 square meters in total. The koubba is almost 12 m high, but you can only see the top third of it from the street at first, so it seems quite small.
The Koubba is conspicuously much lower than the surrounding buildings
The entire system utilized the natural water pressure, so it was necessary to bring the Koubba up to the level of the water basins.
However, archaeologists assume that the buildings stood at the same height as their surroundings at the time of their construction.
Over the centuries, the city’s soil has grown higher and higher due to rubble and waste.
As is so often the case in Moorish architecture, the floor plan is based on geometric relationships in order to create harmonious proportions — very impressively explained in this report on the architecture of the Koubba.
The building has two floors, so to speak — the washing trough is on the first floor and the dome is on the upper floor. The building is made of brick and stone and is mostly smoothly plastered.
The koubba is open on all sides, both on the first floor and on the upper floor, through passages and windows without doors or casements.
The building rests on the corner pillars that support the massive dome.
The openings are in the form of horseshoe arches, which give the koubba its oriental appearance.
The façade is structured by various projections and recesses and attached bands, none of which are decorated.
The lower part of the building is square and remains so until the upper crown, behind which the dome rises. In the upper section, the quadrangular floor plan first changes into a square, then into an octagonal inner dome.
The builder of the Koubba achieved a true masterpiece in terms of the transition from a rectangular building to an octagonal dome.
Although the building looks very simple from the outside, the interior dome is lavishly decorated and ornate.
During the restoration work, remnants of red painting were found inside and restored.
This gives the interior a completely different style than the plain exterior would suggest. However, I wonder whether only the areas that are accentuated in red today were colored, or whether perhaps the entire interior was colored?
As the interior is very small, it is difficult to photograph. The pictures give the impression of a size that does not exist on site.
The inner dome rests on 8 so-called pendentives — corner spandrels that allow the square shape of the first floor to merge into the octagonal shape of the dome.
The dome itself is richly decorated with leafy tendrils, floral elements and shell shapes and ends in an octagonal rosette. As is customary in Morocco, the decorations are cut from stucco and made on site.
In contrast, the outer dome shell is decorated with geometric ribbed structures that lend the simple appearance of the Koubba a playful character. Interestingly, the star that crowns the outside of the dome has seven points and does not reflect the octagonal structure on the inside.
The entire complex was surrounded by a wall, which was removed during renovation work in 1999 and replaced by the current fence.
As a result, you now have a pretty good view of the monument from the street, which you didn’t have in the past.
The art-historical significance of the Koubba
Not many buildings from the early days of Islam have survived in Morocco. In Marrakesh, the Koubba is the only building from the Almoravid period.
This type of domed building was mostly used for religious purposes, often for saints’ tombs or shrines, and was therefore not intended for secular use by the public.
The open floor plan, which is not common for tombs, shrines and other domed buildings, is therefore rare.
The koubba style is typical of the Almoravid period and can also be found in Andalusia in buildings from the time of the Moorish rulers.
Despite being over 900 years old, I find the style quite modern and stringent. The contrast between the simple exterior and opulent interior is fascinating.
The craftsmanship of the Almoravids had a lasting influence on Islamic art, but also on Spanish architecture.
The Koubba is one of the oldest surviving examples of the Moorish style.
The use of leafy tendrils and shells as decorative elements has been part of the design language of the Moorish style for centuries.
Even if the Koubba seems quite small, the discovery of an intact building from the Almoravid period was a sensation and is significant in terms of cultural history.
The water supply systems
The Koubba stands at the center of a complex that served to supply water to Marrakesh and, above all, to the nearby mosque.
This is also the location of one of the few springs that has supplied Marrakesh with water since time immemorial.
The entire complex also included latrines and other facilities needed for the water supply.
However, the latrines raise the question of whether they were actually used in this function, as no sewage system was found during the excavation.
During the tour, you can also take a look inside one of the cisterns, but this is rather unspectacular. Only the ruins of the spring have been preserved.
The system that brought water from the mountains in underground canals, the so-called khettaras, to Marrakesh was remarkable. The Koubba water system was connected to the Khettaras and thus fed its water supply in the cisterns from the spring, rainwater and via the canals.
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Is it worth visiting the Koubba of the Almoravids?
Yes — for history lovers and art historians certainly, as well as for anyone interested in old architecture. As an architect, I can easily spend an hour or two here admiring the beauty of the building.
I think a visit is much more interesting if you know something about the history and significance of a building. In this respect, I hope that my comments will make a visit to the Koubba much more informative and entertaining for some of those interested.
But I also know that many people are not interested in such old walls: For them, the free view from beyond the fence is enough.
And quite honestly — why does the small, rather simple Koubba cost 100 dirhams entrance fee and the grandiose Ben Youssef Madrasa with its breathtaking wealth of detail costs only 50 dirhams?
Of course, your entrance fee supports the preservation of the old buildings, but many guests are quite irritated by the price difference.
The only advantage of an entrance fee is the view into the beautiful dome inside the Koubba. Otherwise, you can see almost as much from outside the fence as from inside.
So it’s enough to take a look at the Koubba from the street, read a little about its history and imagine yourself back in time.
If you want to dream even more about times gone by, our blog article about the most important historical monuments at Marrakesh presents many more sights.
The Koubba is the only surviving building from the Almoravid period in Marrakesh!
Koubba of the Almoravids Info
75 Derb Souk Cheria, Marrakech 40000, Morocco
The Koubba is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. Admission costs 100 dirhams.
Different opening hours may apply during Ramadan.
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