Almoravid Koubba

The Almoravid Qubba, also known as the Qubbat al-Ba'diyyin or Qubbat al-Barudiyyin, is a small monument in Marrakesh, Morocco. It was erected by the Almoravid dynasty in the early 12th century. It is notable for its extraordinary decoration and for being one of the only remnants of Almoravid architecture in Marrakesh. The Almoravid Qubba is situated next to the Marrakech Museum and around 40 meters south of the Mosque of Ben Youssef. It is the only surviving example of Almoravid architecture in Marrakesh. Its inscription states it was built on Wednesday, 30th Rabi I by the Almoravid ruler Ali ibn Yusuf. But the year is missing, giving four options, the most plausible of which being either 1 August 1117 or, more likely, 6 May 1125. Scholars have generally accepted that it belonged to the nearby Ben Youssef Mosque, the main mosque of the city at the time, and that it was a pavilion used for ritual ablutions before prayer. The mosque itself, also originally built by Ali ibn Yusuf, has since been completely rebuilt in more recent centuries. This type of structure for providing water near a mosque was also known as a mida'a ("ablutions facility") and is found in later mosques in Marrakesh. In modern times, the existence of the Qubba was first documented by French scholars in 1947, with architectural historian Boris Maslow publishing notes about it in 1948. In the following years, more thorough excavations and studies were carried out under the direction of Henri Terrasse and Jacques Meunié. Due to the rising ground level and the construction of other structures around it, over half of the Qubba was buried under 7–8 meters of debris. The French scholars refrained from any significant reconstruction or restoration, leaving the structure essentially as found, and published their findings in the 1950s. In the decades since its excavation it has become a historic monument and tourist attraction.

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