Study on the social-cultural components in the spatial configuration of Islamic tombs in Morocco (2nd century AH/8 AD to 14th AH/16 AD)

Tombs are social-cultural and blessed buildings in the Islamic era, which, after mosques, have special importance as an integral part of religious architecture. Due to the importance of identifying different regional traditions regarding the burial architecture of the Islamic world over many centuries, there have not been many focused studies on the shrine buildings of the western historical land of the Islamic world. The purpose of this article is to study the role of socio-cultural components in the spatial configuration of five examples of Islamic pilgrimage sites in the geographical area of northwest Africa, Maghreb al-Aqsa (Morocco) from the 8th to the 18th century. In the first step, with the descriptive-historical research method and the use of documentary and library studies, the data extracted from the case examples have been collected, the introduced buildings are compared with the three components of spatial hierarchy, spatial order and spatial accessibility. Then, in the second step, with the descriptive-analytical method and using the spatial syntax method, the unique functional-spatial features, dimensions and architectural qualities governing the Islamic tombs of this region from the point of view of how they relate to the surrounding environment are discussed. The results of the research show that the physical-formal structure of the tomb buildings of Morocco in the Islamic period follows a single primary model, but the difference between these buildings is in the spatial organization of the inner courtyard and the spatial configuration of the tombs. Zawiya Mola Idris II in Fez has the best spatial configuration with the highest spatial correlation coefficient due to the high spatial order and accessibility that can be seen in the plan.