Sultan Hassan Mosque
Sultan Hassan Mosque Cairo the city of minarets and the home to one
of the biggest collection of marvelous mosques, one of which the Mosque-
Madrassa of Sultan Hassan has a great power to turn heads as it’s known
one of the most beautiful Islamic structures in the world due to its ability
to combine a multiplicity of decorations in the most elegant and magical way.
Sultan Hassan mosque
regarded as the finest example of early Mamluk architecture
in Cairo as it was built by Sultan an-Nasir Hassan between 1356 A.D AND 1363 A.D.
Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrassa considered one of the most important and
impressive historical monuments in all of Cairo to this current day. It is very colossal
with 150m in length and covering 7,906 sq M of land and its walls rise to 36M high.
It’s rumored that the construction was so expensive, it nearly emptied the Mamluk
Treasury and the builders even used stones from Giza pyramids.
The Architecture of Sultan Hassan Mosque
The mosque style of architecture pretty unique as it designed in the form
of a Madrassa (school). The design of the decorations known to be very well
-organized and systematic in a fashionable manner. Sultan Hassan mosque
consists of a central open courtyard in the middle of which a breathtaking
ablutions fountain which probably added during the Ottoman era.
The central courtyard
is surrounded by four soaring Liwans (teaching areas),
skillfully fitted between and behind each Liwan is a madrasa, complete with its
own courtyard and four stories of chambers for students and teachers.
The Liwans dedicated to teaching each of the four main Sunni schools
of Islamic jurisprudence which Hanafi, Malaki, Hanbali, and Sha
Components of Sultan Hassan Mosque
Sultan Hassan also built a mausoleum for himself which did not used, behind the
largest Liwan which included a number of splendors of Islamic art for its walls
which paneled with colored stone and marble, the upper parts of it boasts a
band of stucco decoration, that consists of an inscription based on Qur’anic
verses in “Kufic” script on a floriated background, the style of which rarely
seen and also contain the marble mihrab and the minibar. The mausoleum
beautifully decorated as its door made of bronze and carries radiating
Sultan Hassan Mosque
stars in gold and silver, The marble mihrab in its embellished with detailed
geometric decoration in marble mosaic and its dome supported on
stalactite pendentives which look very beautiful in the morning time.
It’s designed to face Mecca, so the prayers had to face the empty
mausoleum every time they faced the qibla which considered to very abnormal.
Any tourist may confuse it with Al-Rifa’ I Mosque which built in 1912 as an imitation of this amazing monument.
Tours to Sultan Hassan Mosque
You can visit this marvelous Islamic monument during your Cairo tours,
or you can check our Egypt private tours to enjoy visiting the mosque mixed
by all the historical landmarks and pharaonic treasures in the immortal cities
of Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, and Aswan accompanied by a private Egyptologist tour guide.
