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Mosques were built in order to fit the entire Muslim population the area. The hypostyle floor plan was used the most; it's a hall with a flat ceiling that is supported with columns. Think of a forest of columns that are spread out evenly. This type of architecture was very popular because it was easy to expand upon; take out a wall, add two more rows of columns, add more ceiling, and you're done. Mosques were decorated using arches (normally a horseshoe type of arch) and alternating voussoirs; columns to support arches were normally taken from older buildings, or spolia. Arabesques and motifs can be seen around mosques; this was used to decorate since you couldn't depict anything with a soul. In Europe, some places were taken over, like the Parthenon and other buildings used for religious purposes; I don't know too much about any Mosques in Europe.

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14y ago

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