Many civilizations and invaders took turns in Algeria making this vast territory, through its cities, a country rich in history. Indeed, its towns and villages are the living witnesses of a memory of which we can be proud, and this from Numidia to Algeria today. Of these cities, one will quote that of Mansourah, located in western Algeria.
Mansourah, meaning "victorious" in Arabic, is a commune located in the center of the wilaya of Tlemcen. It was built by the Merinid Sultan Abu Yacoub Youcef. Mansourah is best known for its remains dating back to the 14th century which are a reminder of the fratricidal conflicts between the Abdalwadides and Merinids. In fact, coveted by his Merinid neighbors in Fez, Tlemcen had to resist their assaults several times. And, during the reign of the Zianid Abu Said Othman, she had to defend herself against a siege which lasted eight long years (May 6, 1299 - May 13, 1307). The Merinid Sultan Abu Yacoub Youcef then erected a city in the vicinity of the besieged city. It was a military field established by the Merinid Sultan at the beginning of the siege in 1299. This improvised building received the name of "Elmahalla Mansourah", that is to say, "the victorious field" and has gradually transformed in a real city with the construction of a mosque, a royal palace, a hospital, all, defended by a wall. During this siege, Mansourah then becomes the official city and seat of the Merinid government in the central Maghreb. It was only after the assassination of the Merinid Sultan Abu Yacoub Youcef by one of his slaves that he was put to an end at the siege where there were 120,000 dead among the Tlemcenians, with the consequent return of the Marinids to Fez and the abandonment of Mansourah. Today, there remains of this gracious city, that was once Mansourah, the northern and western parts of the walls that once formed the walls of the city and the mosque with its masterful minaret.
The mosque of Mansourah was built around 1303 by the sultan Abu Yacoub, but was assassinated before the completion of his work. The death of the sovereign was immediately followed by the evacuation of Mansourah by merinides, the work would have resumed in 1336 at the time of their return when Abu Hassan ben Otman rebuilding the city. In fact, after the departure of the Marinids, Mansourah, who recalled to the Tlemcenians eight years of suffering and mourning, was ruined by them; the enclosure itself was partly dismantled. It was not until thirty years later, when the merinides returned, under the leadership of Sultan Abu Hassan ben Otman, to besiege Tlemcen in 1335 that Mansourah was restored. Although less than two years after the besiegers entered Tlemcen, exactly on May 1, 1337, it was nevertheless at Mansourah that the Marinid king, master of Tlemcen, kept his residence, in the palace of the victory which rose to the East from the present village, on an eminence, from which one enjoys an admirable point of view. The location of this palace is still marked today by ruined walls. The return of the Zianid sovereigns to the throne of Tlemcen in 1348, marked the final ruin of the Marinid city. In 1352, new occupation for seven years: Aboû Inân, son of Abou al Hacen, conquered again Tlemcen.
The mosque, however, was never completely finished and only stood on the perimeter of its walls and the front half of its minaret. A plan reconstructed from excavations shows that this mosque is spread over a rectangle 60 m wide and 85 m long. The mosque which has thirteen doors is surrounded by an enclosure. It presents a quadrangular court of 30 m side, decorated with a fountain which was surrounded by porticoes on three sides, in the east and the west, of triple porticoes constituted by the extension of the naves of the room of prayer, and a simple portico to the north. The prayer room that opens directly onto the courtyard has thirteen naves perpendicular to the wall qibli, which break three bays before the mihrâb. A square space surmounted by a dome which occupies the length of three naves is placed in front of the mihrab, projected on either side of three naves parallel to the wall qibli. The mihrâb, a real small room, is part of a rectangular space projecting from the wall.
On both sides, two doors open on two small rooms. The quadrangular minaret is attached to the wall of the mosque, in the axis of the mihrab; only four levels remain. Its decoration unfolds in rectangular frames where the voids and the solid enliven its surface with an alternation of openings and blind multi-lobed arches. On the north side, a diamond network is formed of relief bricks, formerly enhanced with ceramics. The main door opens at the base of the minaret which protrudes in the middle of the north-west face. The minaret, although discouraged from its lantern, stands at 38 m. A small door opening into the mosque, under the front gallery of the courtyard, gave access to the ramp, which, by seven revolutions around the central core, rose to the level of the upper gallery. This ramp was illuminated by large openings pierced in the middle of the four faces and by smaller days in the axis of the ramps. The walls, a development of about four meters, delimited an area of 100 ha. Rammed, thick 1.50 m and 12 m high, flanked by 80 towers, they have almost disappeared to the east and south.
During the French colonial era, the remains of this historic site was classified in 1900 and has been restored and maintained during the colonial and post-colonial period by the architects of the historic monuments. . Mansourah, which today is an invaluable archaeological site, has yet to reveal all its secrets. The history of this space, witness of a glorious and tormented past, is always in search of a valorization. It is a place to visit during your visit to Tlemcen.