Koutoubia Mosque — Marrakech Minaret at Dusk
749.00 د.إ
The Koutoubia Mosque minaret in Marrakech photographed from Jemaa el-Fna at dusk — the 12th-century Almohad tower in the deep blue post-sunset sky, the square lanterns at the top, the orange groves below.
Description
The Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech — built in 1158 during the Almohad caliphate — has the most celebrated minaret in Morocco and served as the architectural model for both the Giralda in Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat, demonstrating the breadth of Almohad architectural influence. The minaret rises 70 metres above the mosque courtyard and is visible from most of Marrakech’s medina. The Jemaa el-Fna square — Marrakech’s central public space — provides the standard vantage point from which the minaret is photographed in relation to the surrounding palm trees and orange grove. This photograph was made at blue hour — 25 minutes after sunset — from a position at the eastern edge of Jemaa el-Fna, when the minaret’s exterior lanterns are illuminated and the sky transition from warm post-sunset to deep blue creates the maximum contrast with the tower’s pale limestone surface. The orange tree silhouettes at the minaret base frame the lower register of the composition.
