Sidi Belahcen Mosque

The mosque was founded in 1296 by the Zayyanid ruler Abi Ibrahim ibn Yahya, as inscribed on the plank of the western wall in the prayer hall and on the two groves made of plaster on top of the mihrab. The mosque's name is considered derived from the name of the local qadi and ulama Abi al-Hassan who served under the rule of Abu Said Uthman I (). Today, the National Public Museum of Islamic Calligraphy () occupies the oratory of the former mosque, the adjoining room, the former courtyard, and a room on the second floor. The museum contains artefacts of Almoravid and Zayyanid art, relics found during excavations at Siga, Honaïne and the Agadir mosque, as well as Almohad and Roman coins. ==Architecture==

The former mosque has rather modest appearance compared to the other mosques of the same era. The former mosque has no sahn and uses similar tiles for the floor and the qibla wall. The ceiling was consisted of interlocking logs made of cedar trees, which is the first of its kind in Algeria and predates three or four centuries the style employed in the Andalusian Moorish architecture. File:Mihrab de la mosquée de Sidi Belhassen.jpg|Inside the prayer hall, looking towards the mihrab (center) File:Le plafond en bois et les trois fenêtres solaires (chamsiyat) situées en haut du mihrab de la mosquée de Sidi Belhassen.jpg|Ceiling of the prayer hall File:Intérieur de la mosquée de Sidi Bellahsen, Tlemcen.jpg|Transverse view of the prayer hall (mihrab on the right) File:Décoration du mihrab de la mosquée Sidi Belahassen, Tlemcen - 02.jpg|Mihrab decoration File:Chapiteau de la mosquée de Sidi Belhassen, Tlemcen - 02.jpg|Decorative capital next to the mihrab File:Muqarnas de la mosquée de Sidi Bellahsen - 02.jpg|Muqarnas inside the mihrab == See also ==