Minaret

What is a Minaret?

A minaret is a tall tower that is often built next to or as part of a mosque. These beautiful towers have many purposes. One of their main jobs is to help share the Muslim call to prayer with the community. A person called a muezzin stands in the tower and announces the time for prayer to everyone nearby.

Minarets also act as important landmarks. They show that a mosque is nearby and stand as proud symbols of the Islamic faith in the area. Minarets come in many different shapes and sizes. Some are short and wide, while others rise very high and thin into the sky, each style adding its own beauty to the landscape.

Fun Facts About Minarets

Minarets have been part of mosques for many years. The first minarets were added to important mosques, like the Great Mosque of Mecca, in the late 8th century. One of the oldest surviving minarets is from the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia, built in 836.

Minarets come in many shapes and sizes, depending on where they are built. They can be circular, square, or octagonal. Inside, there are stairs or ramps that spiral up. At the top, there is often a balcony where the call to prayer is made. Some minarets have balconies along their height. The top of a minaret may have a lantern-like shape, a small dome, a pointed roof, or a curved stone top, finished with a decorative metal piece.

Minarets are made from whatever building materials are available in the region. In some tall, thin minarets from the Ottoman style, hot iron was poured into spaces inside the stones to help hold them together.