List of oldest minarets
This article lists some but by no means all of the oldest known minaret towers in the world.
The oldest minaret still surviving is that of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia. It was constructed in 836 AD and is considered as the prototype for all the square shaped minarets built in the Western Muslim World.
Most ancient, surviving minarets were constructed adjacent to a mosque, for the Muslim call to prayer five times each day by a muezzin. A few minarets were built as watchtowers, landmarks or symbols of victory or glory of a Muslim Khanate or empire. In some instances, like the Minaret of Jam only the minaret tower survives today while the adjoining mosques and other structures were destroyed over time by nature and invaders.
List of oldest minarets
This list ranks the oldest surviving minarets in the world. Only minarets built before 1900 AD. are included.| Name | Image | Location | Country | Region | Height | Height | Year Built | Status | Notes | Ref. |
| Great Mosque of Kairouan Minaret | Kairouan | Tunisia | North Africa | 31.5 | 103 | 836 AD | Preserved | |||
| Minaret of Jam | Shahrak District | Afghanistan | South Asia | 65 | 213 | 1194 AD | Endangered | In UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger | ||
| Qutub Minar | Delhi | India | South Asia | 72.5 | 238 | 1311 AD | Preserved | Tallest minaret made of bricks. | ||
| Kutlug Timur Minaret | Konye-Urgench | Turkmenistan | Central Asia | 60+ | 197 | 1011 AD | Believed to be the tallest of the ancient minarets in Central Asia. Dome was destroyed in 1221 by Mongols. Only 60 meters remain. | |||
| Burana Tower | Chuy Valley | Kyrgyzstan | Central Asia | 25 | 82 | 11th Century | Preserved | Originally 45 metres tall. Top destroyed by earthquake in 15th century. | ||
| Uzgen Minaret | Uzgen | Kyrgyzstan | Central Asia | 27.5 | 90 | 11th Century | Preserved | |||
| Ghazni Minarets | Ghazni | Afghanistan | South Asia | 20 | 65 | 12th Century | Endangered | 2 minaret towers. Upper portion of tower lost to earthquake in 1902 | ||
| Jarkurgan minaret | Jarkurgan | Uzbekistan | Central Asia | 21.6 | 71 | 1108 AD | ||||
| Khosrogerd Minaret | Sabzevar | Iran | Western Asia | 30 | 98 | 1112 AD | ||||
| Kalyan minaret | Bukhara | Uzbekistan | Central Asia | 45.6 | 150 | 1127 AD | Preserved | |||
| 5 Musalla Minarets of Herat | Herat | Afghanistan | South Asia | 55 | 180 | 1417 AD | Endangered | Only 5 of original 20 minarets remain. | ||
| Eger minaret | Eger | Hungary | Central Europe | 40 | 131 | 17th century | Preserved | One of three surviving minarets of Ottoman rule in Hungary. |