To visit the mosques of Kairouan an order is required from the _controleur civil_—a mere formality. That, together with a pair of red slippers large enough to pull over one’s shoes, and a handful of small coins with which to reward the numerous attachés of the ecclesiastical buildings and to bestow on the holy men and mendicants who crouch at their entrances, and we are all set for a tour of the sacred city. On arriving in Rome for the first time, one’s footsteps turn instinctively in the direction of St. Peter’s; the visitor to Kairouan makes directly for the Great Mosque, the Djamaa Sidi Okba. As befits the premier sanctuary of Africa, it is of enormous size, covering an area of three acres. Next to nothing of the original structure remains, however, for it has been rebuilt four times, that which we now see dating from the early part of the ninth century. Just as the Campanile at Venice overshadows and dwarfs those two most beautiful buildings, St. Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace, so the tremendous height and bulk of the square minaret of the Great Mosque reduces the lovely cloistered building at its feet to comparative insignificance. As is the case with most of the famous sanctuaries of Islam, the mosque is built about an enormous court, surrounded by a very imposing double colonnade, paved with marble, and provided with fountains in which, as prescribed by the Koran, the pious must bathe their faces, hands, and feet before entering the place of worship. Rising from the center of the court is an ancient stone sun-dial. As the hour of prayer approaches a venerable employee of the mosque intently watches the creeping shadow, and from the summit of the lofty tower another attendant watches him. When the edge of the shadow touches the proper meridian, the man by the sun-dial abruptly raises his arm, like a semaphore, whereupon a large white flag is broken out from the gallows-like staff on the tower, and the musical drone of the muezzin floats out across the city summoning the faithful to prayer: “_Ash hadu illa ill Allah, wa ash hadu inna Mohammed an rasool Allah!_”