The “configurational analysis” for the study of medieval mosques in al-Maghrib al-Aqṣà: The Qaṣba mosque of Marrakesh

Abstract

The present paper attempts to present an analytical method that is suitable, and of great interest, for the study of historical buildings that are still in use or those that do not permit the undertaking of a stratigraphic analysis of their walls. Despite having been conceived almost four decades ago, this method is now being consolidated with the establishment of a set of guidelines that should be considered for its application. Furthermore, this working model has been defined thanks to its experimentation in a specific case study, the Qaṣba mosque in Marrakesh, where it was possible to recognize the twelfth-century Almohad foundational configuration as well as some of its later transformations. Finally, as an example, the results of this study are presented in order to show the capacity of the method as well as to demonstrate the characteristics of this building, a masterpiece of medieval religious architecture in the Islamic West.