Al-Zaytuna Mosque, Tunis, Tunisia

Al-Zaytuna Mosque, (Arabic: جامع الزيتونة‎, literally meaning the Mosque of Olive) is a major mosque in city of Tunis.

Al-Zaytuna was the second mosque to be built in Maghreb region after the Mosque of Uqba in Kairouan. The exact date of building varies according to source. Most of historians believe that it was built at 84 hijri (703 C.E.).

The mosque covers an area of 5,000 square meters with nine entrances. It has 160 columns brought originally from the ruins of the old city of Carthage. Al-Zaytuna mosque followed the design and architecture of previous mosques, mainly the Mosque of Uqba, and was an inspiration for later mosques such as the Great Mosque of Cordoba. The square minaret rises from the northwest corner of the courtyard. Built in 1894, the minaret is 43 meters (141 ft) high.

The mosque is known to host one of the first and greatest universities in the history of Islam. Many Muslim scholars were graduated from the Al-Zaytuna for over a thousand years. One of the most famous alumni of Al-Zaytuna is Ibn Khaldoun who is known as father of modern historiography in the world. Al-Zaytuna libraries were the richest among North African counterparts. It had tens of thousands of books included a large collection of rare and unique manuscripts. The manuscripts covered almost all subjects and sciences, including grammar, logic, documentations, etiquette of research, medicine, cosmology, arithmetic, geometry, minerals, vocational training, etc.