Kairouan

Muslim holy city in Tunisia, south of Tunis; population (2004) 117,900. It is also a commercial centre for trade in sheep, wool, skins, grain, and olives. Chief industries are carpets, leather goods, ceramics, and copperware. The city, said to have been founded in AD 617, is sometimes known as the City of 100 Mosques and ranks after Mecca and Medina as a place of pilgrimage.

The city lies 50 km/31 mi southwest of Sousse, an ancient holy place visited by Muslim pilgrims. It has a citadel and numerous mosques. It was the capital of the Aghlabid dynasty (800–909), when the present Great Mosque was built, the best example of early Islamic architecture in North Africa.