Islamic Architecture of the Swahili coast

Abstract

It is now accepted that Swahili Islamic architecture is indigenous in character, expressing forms derived from local materials – timber, fossil and reef coral, thatch and a ready availability of lime and plaster. Early mosques at Shanga and Ras Mkumbuu were both made from Porites coral, with blocks carefully shaped for the walls, bonded in lime mortar and with raised floors. An early mosque was found at Kilwa below the floor of the surviving northern mosque that dates to the twelfth century. At Kilwa, by the fourteenth century the largest urban settlement on the coast, the solution was to construct a massive extension to the south of the original mosque. Contemporary mosques were built with vaults, both at Kilwa and nearby settlements. These mosques use both domes and barrels, often together in the same building. The principal decorative feature of coastal mosques is the mihrab, a decorative apse that marks the direction of prayer towards Mecca.