- Sultan Hassan Mosque
- History:
Built between 1356 and 1363 by the Mamluk ruler Sultan Hassan, the scale of the mosque is so colossal that it nearly emptied the vast Mamluk Treasury. Historians believe that the builders of this mosque may have used stone from the pyramids at Giza.
Early in construction, some design flaws in the colossal plans became apparent. There was going to be a minaret at each corner, but this was abandoned after the one directly above the entrance collapsed, killing 300 people. Another minaret toppled in 1659, then the weakened dome collapsed.
The early history witnessed by the mosque was as unstable as its architecture: Hassan was assassinated in 1391, two years before completion, and the roof was used as an artillery platform during coups against sultans Barquq (1391) and Tumanbey (1517).
- What to see ?
I was excited about visiting the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, which I have seen many times
from outside but never ventured within. It was a school, or madrasa, but for the first time in Cairo, the madrasa had also the status of a congregational mosque for Friday sermons.
In fact, many guide books refer to it as the finest ancient mosque in Cairo, and has been praised as one of the major monuments of the Islamic world. This monument is best seen in the morning, when the sun lights up the mausoleum and the western iiwan.
Visitors enter the complex through a tall portal that is itself a work of art. A dark and relatively low-ceilinged passageway leads to the brightly lit sahn, a standard cruciform-plan open courtyard.
The courtyard centers on a domed ablutions fountain, which was probably an Ottoman addition. Soaring on four sides of the courtyard are vaulted liwans (sitting rooms), accented by hanging lamp chains and red-and-black rims.
Each liwan is devoted to one of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence. Skilfully fitted between and behind each liwan is amadrasa, complete with its own courtyard and four stories of cells for students and teachers.
One of the liwans also functions as a sanctuary, containing the mihrab and minbar. It is distinguished from its roughly-plastered counterparts by soft-hued marble inlay and a band of Kufic script.
To the right of the minbar in this room is a bronze door, exquisitely decorated with radiating stars in Gold and silver, which leads into the mausoleum of Sultan Hassan. Its location benefits from prayers to Mecca and overlooks the Sultan's old stomping grounds on Midan Salah al-Din.
The mausoleum, covered by a restored dome supported on stalactite pendentives, is quite beautiful, particularly in the morning when the rising sun filters through grilled windows.
- Muhammad Ali Mosque
History
The mosque, the largest such structure built during the first half of the 19th century, is more impressive at a distance than close up. Though there its artistic merit is questionable, it is an unparalleled contribution to the skyline of Cairo, visible high atop the Citadel grounds. Indeed, its great dome and towering minarets give the Citadel a romantic, oriental quality that makes up for any shortcomings in its detail. It is almost certainly the first feature that catches ones eyes at the fortress
What to see ?
Ottoman law prohibited anyone but the sultan from building a mosque with more than one minaret, but this mosque has two minarets. This was one of Muhammad 'Ali's first indications that he did not intend to remain submissive to Istanbul.
The mosque is classically Turkish in style, reflecting its Ottoman origins. The cascading domes, slender minarets, constellation of hanging globe lamps, richly decorated ceiling and spacious interior all recall the great mosques of Istanbul.
The interior also reflects some French rococo influences, and is finished with ornate lines of red, green, and GOLD. There is a gold-scalloped mihrab and two minbars (pulpits): one faced in alabaster and the other, unusually, in the Art Nouveau style.
Muhammad Ali is buried beneath a white marble monument on the right of the entrance behind a bronze grill.
In the courtyard is an ornate clock given by Louis Philippe in exchange for the obelisk that stands in the Place de la Concorde in aris. It has never worked.
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