The Koutoubia Mosque (Arabic: جامع الكتبية) is the largest mosque in Marrakech, Morocco. The minaret was completed under the reign of the Almohad Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur (1184-1199) and was used as model for a number of other famous buildings, including the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat.
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The mosque takes its name from the Arabic word for book, koutoub, because it used to be surrounded by sellers of manuscripts. Nowadays, you can still see people holding temporary stalls for religious books and manuscripts
The tower is 69 m (221 ft) in height and has a lateral length of 12.8 m (41 ft).
The minaret is topped by four copper orbs. According to legend, they were originally made of pure gold, and there were once supposed to have been only three.
Non-Muslims may not enter the building. but tourists are free to walk in the large plaza, walkways, and gardens.
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There used to be another mosque built on the site next to the Koutoubia Mosque. There was a problem with the orientation of the prayer niche to Mecca. So Koutoubia was built and the original building was demolished. This is what's left of the building.
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