The Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo
The wealth of mosques in Cairo, “the city of a thousand minarets,” is central to its civilization. One of the largest mosques in Cairo is the Sultan Hassan Mosque, one of the best examples of Mamluk architecture.
This Mosque is considered the most beautiful in Cairo, described as the jewel of Islamic architecture in the East, and one of the great mosques in the world. It is in the Saladin Citadel Square in Old Cairo, opposite the Al Refai Mosque.
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The History of the Mosque of Sultan Hassan
Sultan Hassan was the Mamluk governor of Cairo. On the same site as the Mosque in 1356 was a palace built by his father, Al Nasser Muhammad Ibn Qalaun, to be the residence of Yalbugha and a horse market. Then Sultan Hassan ordered the palace’s destruction to build the Mosque from it in the 14th century between 1356 and 1363.
At the time of its construction, it was notable for its fantastic architecture. It was considered one of the four schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence; Hanafi, Shafai, Hanbali, and Malki. After five years of starting construction, a minaret at the entrance collapsed, fell into the street, and caused the death of 3,000 people, which is why Sultan Hassan was assassinated in 1361.
Two years after his death, the construction was finished of his Mosque, and his tomb was not in the Mosque. In 1915 the patio, the walls, and the marble of the Mosque was restored. Because of the beauty of the Mosque, the royal family in Egypt built the Al-Rafai Mosque as an imitation of Sultan Hassan’s. In 2012 the Mosque was restored by the Ministry of Antigü age of Egypt.
The Construction of the Mosque of Sultan Hassan
To build the Mosque spent 30 thousand dirhams every day. The architect of the Mosque is unknown. The Mosque was built in the Mamluk style with limestone and marble from the Pyramids of Giza and the palace’s foundations. The Mosque is famous for its size, which occupies 8,000 m2 and is 35 m high and 150 m long.
The entrance is in the northeast, and the gate is 38 m high and richly decorated. The tallest minaret of the Mosque is 68 high. The door leads into a dark domed corridor that leads to a lighted and open courtyard (Sahn in Arabic). In the center of the square is a fountain with a wooden dome, built by the Ottomans for ablution.
On the patio’s four sides are vaulted Iwán (rooms) where the four schools (madrasas) were. The Iwanes are covered in marble and decorated with chain lamps and red and black borders. The upper part of the Iwan is decorated with Kufic inscriptions. Each Iwan has its courtyard and four cells for students. The southern Iwan is the largest in the Mosque and Cairo.
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