Almohad art continued and developed the artistic processes associated with the Almoravids. Its defining qualities were majestic proportions, balanced volumes, rich ornament, and a greater sense of nobility and grace. The extract presents the Almohad period as the peak of western Muslim art, particularly in the western Maghrib and the Spanish territories connected to it.

The Kutubiyya Mosque at Marrakesh was described as the jewel of Almohad art. Built by the dynasty’s founder, Abd al-Mu’min, it possessed a minaret rising more than 67 metres, five muqarnas domes, seventeen naves, and seven bays. Its lobed arches and elaborate decorative motifs created a sense of breadth and spaciousness, while its polychrome faience contributed to the distinctive visual character of Almohad architecture.

Other major works expressed the same architectural ambition. Abu Ya‘qub Yusuf was responsible for the Great Mosque of Seville, whose minaret survives as the Giralda. At Rabat, al-Mansur began the monumental Hassan Mosque, leaving an unfinished complex with a forest of columns and a prominent tower. Almohad construction also included gates at Rabat, the citadel of Guadaira, the kasaba of Badajoz, and the Tower of Gold overlooking the Guadalquivir.

The Almohad century also supported an important intellectual culture. Courts patronized poets and scholars, while philosophers and scientists such as Ibn Rushd, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Maymun, and several physicians and astronomers worked within the wider Almohad world. The political empire founded by Abd al-Mu’min did not survive the defeat at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, after which it gave way to four independent kingdoms.