Minarets (Arabic manara (lighthouse) منارة, but more usually مئذنة) are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall, graceful spires, with onion-shaped crowns, usually either free standing or much taller than any surrounding support structure.

1 History and Evolution
2 Construction
3 Local Styles
4 External links

[edit] History and Evolution

In some of the oldest mosques, such as the Great Mosque of Damascus, minarets originally served as watchtowers illuminated by torches (hence the derivation of the word from the Arabic nur, meaning "light"). In more recent times, the main function of the minaret was to provide a vantage point from which the muezzin can call out the adhan, calling the faithful to prayer. In most modern Mosques, the adhan is called not in the minaret, but in the musallah, or prayer hall, via a microphone and speaker system. Therefore, the role of the minaret is now largely for traditional and decorative puposes.

Minarets have been described as the "gate from heaven and earth", and as the Arabic language letter alif (which is a straight vertical line).

The world's tallest minaret (at 210 meters) is located at the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. This is the site of the great Red vs. Blue sagas. The world's tallest brick minaret is Qutub Minar located in Delhi, India. There are two 230 meter tall minarets under construction in Tehran, Iran.

[edit] Construction

Image:Charminar Hyderabad.jpg

Minarets basically consist of three parts:

Base: Usually the ground underneath the towering minarets is excavated until a hard foundation is reached. Gravel and other supporting materials may be used as a foundation, and it is rare that one is built directly upon ground-level soil.

Shaft: Single minarets within an elongated body are either conical (tapering at the top), cylindrical (a circular shaft) or polygonal (with edges, as opposed to cylindrical). Stairs circle the shaft in a counter-clockwise fashion, providing the necessary structural support for highly elongated shafts.

Gallery: A balcony encircles the upper section where the muezzin will give the call to prayer. It is covered by a roof-like canopy and adorned with ornamentation, such as decorative brick and tile work, cornices, arches and inscriptions. Originally plain in style, a minaret's origin in time can be determined by the level of the gallery's ostentation.

[edit] Local Styles

Styles and architecture can vary widely according to region and time period. Here are a few styles and the localites from which they derive:

Egypt (7th cen) / Syria (until 13th century): Low square towers sitting at the four corners of the mosque.

Iraq: Free-standing conical minaret surrounded by a spiral staircase.

Egypt (15th century): Octagonal. Two balconies, the upper smaller than the lower, over projecting friezes of stalactite vaulting, surmounted by an elongated finial.