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Doha – The Great Mosque of Tinmel, a 12th-century architectural marvel with a rich history, is slowly being pieced back together a year after the powerful Al Haouz earthquake struck Morocco on September 8, causing widespread destruction and claiming nearly 3,000 lives.
The village of Tinmel, once a center of the Almohad Caliphate, is rebuilding after the disaster reduced the historic mosque to rubble.
The 2023 earthquake toppled the mosque’s minaret, collapsed its prayer hall, and knocked down its outer walls. The destruction added to the grief of Tinmel residents, who lost 15 community members in the quake. In a solemn procession, villagers carried the sheet-covered bodies of the victims and laid them to rest in front of the decimated mosque.
Mohamed Hartatouch, who lost his 33-year-old son Abdelkrim, a substitute teacher, in the earthquake, described the aftermath as resembling a storm. “I wasn’t able to feel anything,” he recalled to AP, as the village waited over a day for rescue crews to arrive.
One year after the tragic event, with the anniversary now passed, the rubble has been cleared and the community is focusing on reconstruction. Residents view the mosque not only as a sacred site but also as a source of pride and economic opportunity in a region long lacking in infrastructure and jobs.
“It’s our past,” Redwan Aitsalah, 32, a construction worker rebuilding his home overlooking the mosque ruins, said in an interview with AP.
The road to recovery will be long and costly for Morocco. Government estimates put the price tag for rebuilding at around $12.3 billion, with tens of thousands of homes to repair and hundreds of schools to rebuild. Mountain roads like Tizi N’Test, connecting Marrakech to Tinmel and some of the hardest-hit villages, remain difficult to navigate.
At the mosque site, workers are meticulously sifting through the debris, attempting to salvage every usable piece to incorporate into the reconstruction. Bricks are being stacked, and decorative fragments sorted by arch and dome, in an effort to restore as much of the original structure as possible using the recovered materials.
Centuries of history
The Great Mosque of Tinmel, built in 1148 during the reign of the Almohad Caliph Abd al-Mu’min, holds a significant place in Morocco’s history. It was constructed in memory of Ibn Tumart, the spiritual leader of the Almohad movement, who is buried at the Tinmel site.
Ibn Tumart’s teachings and leadership laid the foundation for the Almohad dynasty, which would go on from Morocco to rule much of North Africa and Al-Andalus (present-day Spain and Portugal) in the 12th and 13th centuries.
The mosque served as a center for religious education and a launching point for the Almohad dynasty’s conquests in Al-Andalus. Its unique architectural style, characterized by hand-carved domes and brick-laid arches, exemplified the Almohad period’s artistic and architectural achievements. The mosque’s design, with its rectangular minaret situated behind the mihrab (prayer niche), set it apart from other mosques of its time.
Throughout its nearly 900-year history, the Great Mosque of Tinmel has remained a place of spiritual significance and pilgrimage. It was the last mosque in the Islamic West from which horses were saddled and bridled for the journey across the Strait of Gibraltar to Al-Andalus, symbolizing the Almohad Caliphs’ commitment to jihad and governance in their second capital, Seville.
The mosque’s importance extended beyond its religious functions, as it played a crucial role in the social and economic life of Tinmel and the surrounding region. It has attracted scholars, pilgrims, and traders, contributing to the area’s growth and prosperity.
Today, as the reconstruction of the Great Mosque of Tinmel begins, it represents not only the restoration of a physical structure but also the preservation of a cultural heritage that has shaped Morocco’s identity.
Read also: Morocco to Launch New Renovation Project for Historical Monuments Damaged by Al Haouz Earthquake
