The Hasan Mosque in Rabat in the context of the Medieval Islamic architecture of the Maghreb

The subject of this study is the Hasan Mosque in Rabat (11951199), a unique monument of Islamic architecture in the context of the Maghreb and Muslim Spain. The construction of the mosque began during the heyday of the Almohad state. In terms of plan, size and architectural elements (transeptal columned mosque), it imitated the Umayyad Mosque in Cordoba as a symbol of the power of Umayyad Spain. However, unlike all other mosques in the Maghreb and Andalusia, this mosque was erected on a high plateau above Rabat, which was fundamentally different from the principles of Muslim architecture (according to which mosques occupied flat lowland territory and their exterior remained modest, as exemplified by the Damascus and Cordoba mosques). The article uses a comprehensive method of analyzing the monument with elements of cultural-historical, artistic-stylistic, comparative and iconological approaches. The main conclusion of the study is the idea of the uniqueness of the architectural solution and location of the mosque in Rabat. In this monument the exterior of the building was to be equal in expressiveness to the interior. The architect of the mosque in Rabat tried to combine its rather archaic type of columned basilica mosque with its innovative urban planning function, which consisted in its location on a high plateau, opening a view of the mosque from afar. From a "hidden treasure" the mosque was transformed, becoming a monument that arose at the intersection of Eastern, Muslim, traditions and the traditions of European architecture. The innovation of the Hasan Mosque in Rabat was not adopted in the further development of Maghreb architecture. It was repeated only at the end of the 20th century in the sea-facing Hasan II Mosque in Casablanca, which is not on a hill but opens its representatively designed facades to the Ocean.