List of oldest minarets

This article lists some but by no means all of the oldest known minaret towers in the world.

The oldest minaret still surviving is that of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia.[1][2] It was constructed in 836 AD[3] and is considered as the prototype for all the square shaped minarets built in the Western Muslim World.[3]

Most ancient, surviving minarets were constructed adjacent to a mosque, for the Muslim call to prayer (Adhan) five times each day by a muezzin (crier).[4] A few minarets were built as watchtowers, landmarks or symbols of victory or glory of a Muslim Khanate or empire. In some instances, like the Minaret of Jam only the minaret tower survives today while the adjoining mosques and other structures were destroyed over time by nature and invaders.

## List of oldest minarets

[edit]

See also: Minaret § Origins

This list ranks the oldest surviving minarets in the world. Only minarets built before 1900 AD. are included.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (April 2023)

|

Name  | Image  | Location  | Country  | Region  | Height (m)  | Height (ft)  | Year Built  | Status  | Notes  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Great Mosque of Kairouan Minaret  |  | Kairouan | Tunisia | North Africa  | 31.5  | 103  | 836  | Preserved  |  | [3]
Great Mosque of Samarra Minaret  |  | Samarra | Iraq  | Western Asia | 52  | 171  | 851  | Preserved  |  |
Kutlug Timur Minaret |  | Konye-Urgench | Turkmenistan | Central Asia | 60+  | 197  | 1011  |  | Believed to be the tallest of the ancient minarets in Central Asia. Dome was destroyed in 1221 by Mongols. Only 60 meters remain.[5] | [5]
Burana Tower |  | Chuy Valley | Kyrgyzstan | Central Asia | 25  | 82  | 11th Century  | Preserved  | Originally 45 metres tall. Top destroyed by earthquake in 15th century.[6] | [6]
Uzgen Minaret |  | Uzgen | Kyrgyzstan | Central Asia | 27.5  | 90  | 11th century  | Preserved  |  | [7]
Ali minaret |  | Isfahan | Iran | Western Asia | 52-54  | 171-177  | 11th-12th Century  | preserved  | Formerly built for a Seljuk-era mosque, now attached to a Safavid-era mosque.[8] | [8]
Ghazni Minarets |  | Ghazni | Afghanistan | South Asia | 20  | 65  | 12th century  | Endangered  | 2 minaret towers. Upper portion of tower lost to earthquake in 1902[9] | [9]
Jarkurgan minaret |  | Jarkurgan | Uzbekistan | Central Asia | 21.6  | 71  | 1108  |  |  | [10][11]
Khosrogerd Minaret |  | Sabzevar | Iran | Western Asia | 30  | 98  | 1112  |  |  |
Kalyan minaret |  | Bukhara | Uzbekistan | Central Asia | 45.6  | 150  | 1127  | Preserved  |  | [12]
Minaret of Jam |  | Shahrak District | Afghanistan | South Asia | 65  | 213  | 1194[13] | Endangered  | In UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger | [14][13]
Kutubiyya Mosque Minaret  |  | Marrakesh | Morocco | North Africa  | 77  | 253  | 1195  | Preserved  |  |
Qutub Minar |  | Delhi | India | South Asia | 72.5  | 238  | 1311  | Preserved  | Tallest minaret made of bricks(marble and red sandstone).[15] | [16]
5 Musalla Minarets of Herat |  | Herat  | Afghanistan | South Asia | 55  | 180  | 1417  | Endangered  | Only 5 of original 20 minarets remain.  | [10][17]
Menara Kudus Mosque Minaret  |  | Kudus Regency | Indonesia | Southeast Asia | 18  | 59  | 1549  |  |  | [18]
Great Mosque of Banten Minaret  |  | Serang | Indonesia  | Southeast Asia  | 24  | 78  | 1632  |  |  | [19]
Eger minaret |  | Eger  | Hungary | Central Europe | 40  | 131  | 17th century  | Preserved  | One of three surviving minarets of Ottoman rule in Hungary.  | [20]
Hiran Minar |  | Sheikhupura  | Pakistan  | Asia  | 110  | 330  | 17th century  | Endangered  | Mughal Empire  |

## See also

[edit]

* Islam portal
* Architecture portal

* Minaret
* List of tallest minarets
* List of tallest mosques
* List of the oldest mosques

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Titus Burckhardt, Art of Islam, Language and Meaning: Commemorative Edition. World Wisdom. 2009. p. 128
2. ^ Linda Kay Davidson and David Martin Gitlitz, Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. 2002. p. 302
3. ^ a b c "Minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan (Qantara Mediterranean Heritage)". Archived from the original on 2013-05-11.
4. ^ "Minaret". britannica.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
5. ^ a b "Kutlug Timur minaret". tourstoturkmenistan.com. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
6. ^ a b "Burana Tower". discovery-kyrgyzstan.com. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
7. ^ "The Uzgen Minaret". discovery-kyrgyzstan.com. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
8. ^ a b Kuban, Doğan (1974). The Mosque and Its Early Development. Brill. p. 28\. ISBN 978-90-04-03813-4.
9. ^ a b "Ghazni Minarets". wmf.org. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
10. ^ a b "7 must-see minarets in Central Asia". caravanistan.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
11. ^ "Jarkurgan Minaret". silkadv.com. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
12. ^ "Kalyan Minaret, Bukhara". unesco.org. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
13. ^ a b "Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam". unesco.org. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
14. ^ "Afghan historic minaret of Jam 'in danger of collapse'". bbc.co.uk. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
15. ^ "Qutub Minar: Lesser known facts about the world's tallest brick minaret". indiatoday.in. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
16. ^ "Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi". unesco.org. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
17. ^ "Monuments Of Herat, Afghanistan's Ancient Cultural Capital, In Danger Of Destruction". rferl.org. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
18. ^ Turner, Peter (November 1995). Java. Melbourne: Lonely Planet. pp. 78–79\. ISBN 0-86442-314-4.
19. ^ Zein, Abdul Baqir (1999). Masjid-masjid bersejarah di Indonesia (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gema Insani. ISBN 9789795615675. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
20. ^ "Eger Minaret website". minareteger.hu. Retrieved 27 September 2018.

* v
* t
* e

Lists of superlatives of religious buildings

By size|

| Tallest|

* Churches
* Eastern Orthodox
* Naves
* Hindu temples
* Mosques
* Minarets

|

Largest|

* Churches
* Evangelical
* Eastern Orthodox
* Hindu temples
* Temple tanks
* Hindu ashrams
* Jain temples
* Mosques

Longest|

* Churches

Oldest|

* Churches
* Mexico
* United States
* Islamic seminaries
* Jain temples
* Mosques
* Minarets
* Synagogues
* Canada
* United Kingdom
* United States

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template