Palaces Hammadid
emirs constructed five
palaces, most of which are now destroyed. The
keep of the Palace of the Fanal (
Qasr al-Manar) does survive. The upper palace consists of three buildings arranged around an irregularly shaped forecourt: a private apartment, a domed hall and an entrance wing. Other palaces such as the Qasr al-Kawab and Qasr al-Salam were constructed by the Hammadids. The Qasr al-Salam likely served as the residence of the ruler's family, and this structure summarises many aspects of typical Hammadid architecture. The Qasr al-Manar is another palace, its layout has resemblance to the Upper palace and Qasr al-Salam as its main elements are composed of a forecourt with an audience hall and a private apartment both surrounded with T-shaped pillared porticos. In Qal'at Beni Hammad, the
minaret, in height, is the only remaining part of the ruined Great Mosque; the structure bears some resemblance to
Seville's
Giralda. There are no earlier examples of muqarnas in the Islamic West. According to
Lucien Golvin the fragments of the muqarnas semi-dome at the Qasr al-Salam are the oldest documented remains of a true
muqarnas vault in the Islamic world. However, other scholars of Islamic architecture have questioned or rejected the dating of these fragments or their identification as true
muqarnas. Furthermore, the Qal’at buildings are considered to be documented antecedents and precursors to certain developments in Western Islamic art in the 12th century. == Gallery ==