AI Qal’at Bani Hammad

UNESCO designated it as a world Historic Site in 1980, calling it Al Qal’at Bani Hammad and describing it as “an accurate depiction of a walled Muslim city.” A 7-kilometre (4-mi) long wall runs through the town. Four residential structures and Algeria’s second-largest mosque are within the fortifications, after Mansurah. Its design is identical to Kairouan’s Great Mosque, with a 20-metre-high tower (66 ft). Numerous terracotta, jewels, coins, and ceramics have been discovered during excavations, attesting to the Hammadid dynasty’s high standard of civilisation. Several ornamental fountains with lion-like motifs were also uncovered among the antiquities. Three different homes divided by lawns and pavilions make up the emir’s palace, named Dal al-Bahr. 

History of Al Qal’at Bani Hammad

The fortress was established in 1007 under Hammad ibn Buluggin, founder of the Algiers and descendant of Buluggin ibn Ziri. In 1017, the city was besieged by the Zirid and became the first capital of the Hammadi dynasty. It was abandoned around 1090 due to the Banu Hilal threat and was later destroyed by the Almohads around 1152. 

In the 11th Century, Al-Bakri portrayed the Qalaa as a hugely powerful military stronghold and a commercial centre that drew caravans from across the Sahara, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and the Hejaz. The Qala drew a large crowd. According to Ibn Khaldun, the plethora of travellers was due to the profusion of resources available to people engaged in sciences, commerce, and the arts. Poets, sages, and theologians flocked to the Qala. The Hammadids’ architecture affected the Normans’ as well. Excavations started in 1908, resumed in 1952-1956, and are still going on today because the majority of the site is still unknown, and features of the palaces need to be studied further. In the 11th century, Al-Bakri characterised the Qalaa as a large and influential military stronghold and a commercial centre that drew caravans from across the Maghreb, Iran, Syria, Egypt, and the Hejaz.

Mosque at Al Qal’at Bani Hammad

The mosque sits at the longitudinal centre of a walled city. The mosque is huge with a rectangular grid of 56 metres broad east-west and 64 metres long north-south. The mosque’s longitudinal axis is parallel to the north-south meridian. The north wall has a minaret in the centre, while the east and west sides have public entrances leading to the mosque courtyard. The huge sahn, which nave galleries border, leads to the apses prayer hall, split into a grid of 13 aisles broad and eight bays deep by columns. The mosque had a massive maqsurah next to the qibla niche on the south side, which was now destroyed. It was five bays broad and four bays deep.

Qasr al Manar

Another architecturally notable building inside Qalat Bani Hammad is the Qasr al Manar, popularly known as the “Castle of a Beacon Light.” The Qasr al Manar, a huge defensive building on the cliff’s edge facing the Honda plateau to the south, is a fortified protrusion of the city’s eastern wall. The stone masonry structure is generally cubic, with a width of 30 metres east-west and a length of 32 metres north-south. Its massive east elevation comprises a chain of silos that could hold a two-year grain supply in a siege. A huge entrance hall with a vaulted roof on the uppermost level of the fort opens onto such a roof deck, despite being primarily a military organisation.

Architecture of Al Qal’at Bani Hammad

The juxtaposition of such prisms suspended over domes, arches, or cornices is called muqarnas. Such decorative elements were utilised in the building; it most likely began in what is now Iraq and spread around the world from the fifth to eleventh centuries.

The Almohads (454–541/1062–1147), according to Torres Balbás, were the first to introduce muqarnas to al-Andalus. However, we now know that the term muqarnas was referenced in papers relating to the ‘if of Almeria as early as the second half of the fifth/eleventh century due to the Andalusi geographer al-Udhr (393–478/1003–85). Thanks to such documentary evidence, it is conceivable to prove its existence in southern al-Andalus before its introduction in Almohad structures. 

During the tenure of the later Hammadids, the city reached the pinnacle of its regional dominance, but the city’s lustre and allure began to fade. Although several large structures remain vestiges, almost all of the architecture has already been lost over time due to lack of preservation.

A minaret stands in the centre of the north wall, and public entrances on the east & west sides lead to a mosque courtyard. The massive Sahn, which arcaded galleries flank, opens to the enormous prayer hall, divided by columns into a grid of 13 broad and eight bays deep.

A 7-kilometre-long wall runs through the town. Several residential complexes and Algeria’s second-largest mosque are within the fortifications, after Mansurah. It has a lofty minaret, similar to Kairouan’s Great Mosque (20 m). It would have been one of Algeria’s largest constructions if it had not been dismantled in the past.

Conclusion 

Beni Hammad’s Qal’a is a study site located 36 kilometres northeast of Mila. At 1,000 metres above sea level, this collection of well-preserved remains is nestled in a stunning alpine setting somewhat on the southern flank of Djebel Maâdid. Hammad, a child of Bologhine (creator of Algiers), founded the Qal’at Bani Hammad in the early 11th Century. However, it was abandoned in 1090 due to a Hilalian invasion. It is one of Islamic civilization’s most fascinating and properly dated colossal complexes. It became prosperous after becoming the capital of the Hammadid dynasty. Within 7 kilometres of partially demolished fortification walls, the Qal’a contains many monumental structures.