Islamic / Medieval Timeline

800 CE – 1591 CE · 3 sites

All sites in this period

The Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, Granada

Country Record

Oldest Complex in Spain

Alhambra

889 CE – 1492 CE

The crowning achievement of Nasrid Islamic architecture — a palace-city of stucco lacework, muqarnas vaulting, and garden courts built above Granada by the last Muslim dynasty in Iberia between 1238 and 1492.

MedievalHigh MedievalEarly Modern

Featured

Country Record

Longest Continuously Occupied Site in Mali

Timbuktu

1100 CE – 1591 CE

Legendary 'City of 333 Saints' and major trans-Saharan trade hub; reached its intellectual zenith under Songhai (1464–1591), leaving earthen mosques and vast manuscript libraries.

High MedievalEarly Modern

The vaulted coral-stone nave of the Great Mosque of Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania

FeaturedNew

Country Record

Longest Continuously Occupied Site in Tanzania

Kilwa Kisiwani

800 CE – 1520 CE

The greatest medieval trading city on the East African coast — an island sultanate whose coral-stone mosques and palaces dominated the Indian Ocean gold trade from the 9th to the 16th century. Ibn Battuta visited in 1331 and called it one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Early MedievalMedieval