Architectural Styles

    Islamic

    Alt names / subperiods 

    Timeline

    Distinguishing Features

    Geographic Presence

    Moorish style

    Umayyad Caliphate (from 622)

    Golden Age (8th-13th C)

    Mamluks (1250–1517)

    Ottomans (1299–1922) 

     

    Wikipedia

    622-Present

    • Domes
    • minarets
    • various types of arches (horseshoe, pointed & ogee)
    • large courtyards
    • intricate decorative arts
    • geometric patterns
    • arabesques (floral designs)
    • calligraphy
    • “Stalactite” ornamental vaulting (muqarnas)
    • large windows,
    • screens (mashrabiya)
    • intricate lattice work to filter and diffuse light
    • emphasizes symmetry & proportion
    • large vaulted space open at one end (iwan)
    • gardens
    • water features
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Iraq
    • North Africa
    • South Asia
    • Spain
    • SE Asia

    Common Building Types

    Landmark buildings

    Historic Accommodation Types

    Accommodation Examples

    • Mosques
    • palaces
    • madrasas (schools)
    • Caravanserais 
    • Tombs
    • Mausoleums
    • Great Mosque of Samarra (Iraq)
    • Great Mosque of Córdoba, Alhambra (Spain)
    • Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque, Turkey)
    • Dome of the Rock Jerusalem
    • Taj Mahal
    • Mosque of Ibn Tulun Cairo
    • Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque Isfahan
    • Al-Aqsa Mosque Jerusalem
    • Citadel of Aleppo
    • Caravanserai (khan) (roadside inns)
    • Ribāṭ and Khānqāhs (frontier lodge / religious-military hostel)
    • Waqf-supported hospices and lodges
    • Urban khans (merchant inns / warehouses)
    • Funduq (especially in North Africa and al-Andalus)
    • Zāwiya / Tekke / Khānqāh (Sufi communal lodge)
    • Mosque-adjacent hospitality
    • Pilgrim accommodation on the Hajj routes (to Mecca/Medina from Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen.)
    • Private hospitality networks
    • Bathhouses (hammams) — not standard lodging

    Caravanserais / Khan –

    • Ribat -i Sharaf (Iran)
    • Karavansaray of Sultanhanı (Turkey)
    • Al-Ubbad Caravanserai (Jordan)

    Funduqs / Urban Khan

    • Funduq al-Najjarin Fez, Morocco
    • Funduq el-Ghoumari — Marrakesh, Morocco
    • Funduq Sagha — Tunis, Tunisia

    Ribāṭs and Khānqāhs

    • Ribāṭ of Sousse (Tunisia)
    • Khanqah of Baybars al-Jashnakir (Cairo, Egypt)

    Pilgrimage Way-Stations & Hajj Hostels

    • Syrian Hajj Road
    • Ottoman Hajj caravanserais

    Monumental Urban Mosques with Adjacent Lodging

    • Great Mosque of Aleppo (Syria)
    • Al-Azhar Mosque (Cairo)
    • Sultan Hassan Mosque (Cairo)

    Hospices & Waqf-funded Lodges

    • Hôtel-Dieu-like hostels in Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad
    • Madrasah courtyards In places like Madrasah al-Nasiriyya (Marrakesh)

    Landmarks

    Original Accommodation

    Adapted Visitor Accommodation

     

    Riad Kniza, Marrakech, Morocco