Beni Hammad Fort
Algeria · M'Sila · 935 m
Description
Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad is the ruined first capital of the Hammadid dynasty, founded in the Hodna mountains early in the eleventh century and abandoned within a century under Hilalian pressure. Seven kilometres of wall enclose a mosque whose prayer hall of thirteen aisles makes it one of the largest in Algeria, second only to Mansourah at Tlemcen. Its square minaret still stands almost twenty-five metres high, its ornament banded into three vertical registers that the Giralda in Seville later echoed. Five palaces have been excavated, among them the Lake Palace with a basin sixty-seven metres long. Stucco fragments here carry some of the earliest muqarnas in the Islamic west.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 day
Travel season
Best time to visit: April – May or September – October
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad (UNESCO)
- Great Mosque minaret
- Dar al-Bahr Lake Palace & basin
- Great Mosque prayer hall
- Qasr al-Manar keep
- Seven kilometre fortified walls
- Qasr al-Salam royal residence
- Muqarnas stucco fragments
- Lion fountain carvings
- Qasr al-Kawkab
- Upper Palace forecourt
- Hodna mountain setting & viewpoint
- Hammadid finds in the Sétif Museum(Day trip)
- Chott el Hodna salt lake birdlife(Day trip)
- M'Sila town & market(Day trip)
Getting there
- Nearest airports:
- QSF, ALG