Muqarnas (Arabic: مقرنص; Persian: مقرنس, or Persian: آهوپای, romanized: ahoopāy), also known in Iberian architecture as … See more

The etymology of the word muqarnas is somewhat vague. Its earliest use in Arabic dates to the 12th century. It is thought to have originated from the Greek word korōnis, meaning "cornice" or "ornamental molding". T… See more

Muqarnas consists of a series of niche-like elements or cells which are combined in a geometrical framework with a few axes of symmetry. The individual cells consist of a limited set of simple prismatic elements which are c… See more

The earliest monuments to make use of this feature date from the 11th century and are found in Iraq, North Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and Upper Egypt. This apparently near-simultaneous appearance in distant regions of t… See more

As with the origins of the muqarnas form, there are multiple theories about its possible symbolic meaning or function. Oleg Grabar, in his work on the Alhambra in Granada, suggested that the large muqarnas … See more

• Exterior of the Bimaristan of Nur al-Din in Damascus (1154), with a muqarnas hood over the entrance and a muqarnas dome (partly visible) behind it
• Muqarnas corbelling around the balcony of the Qutb Minar… See more