Grand Mosque of Paris
— a Maghreb courtyard the city kept.
Not only on a wall.
“A Mudéjar-style mosque in the fifth arrondissement, opened in 1926 to honour the Muslim soldiers who died for France in the First World War. The 33-metre minaret rises over the Jardin des Plantes; the courtyard, with its zellige tiles and orange trees, was modelled on the Alhambra. The salon de thé still serves mint tea under the arcade.
Grand Mosque of Paris, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Grande Mosquée de Paris stands in the 5th arrondissement, at Place du Puits-de-l'Ermite, opposite the Jardin des Plantes. It opened on 15 July 1926 in the Mudéjar revival style of the Maghreb, designed by Maurice Tranchant de Lunel, Charles Heubès, and Robert Fournez. The complex covers about 7,500 square metres and centres on a courtyard with zellige tilework, marble columns, and orange trees, modelled on the Alhambra in Granada. The minaret rises to 33 metres above the Latin Quarter. It is the third-largest mosque in Europe and the oldest in metropolitan France.
The mosque's masonry is North African in detail and Parisian in setting. The courtyard tilework was made and laid by craftsmen brought from Fez and Tlemcen, working in the zellige tradition of mosaic glazed terracotta. Cedar from the Atlas Mountains lines the prayer hall ceiling; the marble columns are Pyrenean. The 33-metre minaret follows the proportions of the Almohad tower at the Kasbah of Marrakech. The salon de thé and hammam, opened with the mosque in 1926, still operate inside the courtyard wall.
The mosque is open to visitors outside prayer times, generally from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Friday. Modest dress is asked of all guests, with scarves available at the entrance. Entry to the courtyard, gardens, and patios is ticketed at a small fee; the prayer hall itself is reserved for Muslim worshippers. The hammam and the salon de thé operate on separate schedules and accept walk-ins. The nearest Métro is Censier-Daubenton on line 7, about three minutes from the gate.