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Kairouan
Site number:
499
Type of site: Cultural
Date: 670
Date of Inscription: 1988
Location: Africa, Tunisia, Gouvernorat de Kairouan
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Description: Kairouan, which was founded in 670, thrived in the 9th century under the Aghlabid dynasty. In spite of the 12th century relocation of the political capital to Tunis, Kairouan continued being the Maghreb's chief holy city. Its prosperous architectural inheritance boasts the Great Mosque, with its marble and porphyry columns, as well as the Mosque of the Three Gates (9th-century). --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available.
  Kairouan (Arabic القيروان) (also known as Kairwan, Kayrawan, Al Qayrawan) is a Muslim holy city which ranks after Mecca and Medina as a place of pilgrimage. Located in Tunisia, about 160 kilometres south of Tunis, it is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate. It was founded by the Arabs in around 670 and the original name was derived from Arabic kairuwân, from Persian Kâravân[citation needed], meaning "camp", "caravan", or "resting place" (see caravanserai) [citation needed]. In 2003 the city had about 150,000 inhabitants. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/499
Reference: 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page.
 
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