Egypt inaugurates newly restored 16th Century Ottoman mosque at Cairo citadel
Egypt has inaugurated a newly restored Ottoman mosque, built by
the 16th century governor Suleyman Pasha al-Khadim, that lies
within the citadel that has dominated Cairo’s skyline for
centuries, Azernews reports, citing Al
Arabiya.
The mosque, with 22 green-tiled domes and minbar (prayer niche)
inlaid with renowned Iznik tiles, is Cairo’s earliest Ottoman
mosque, built in 1528 A.D., eleven years after the Ottoman army
under Sultan Selim conquered Egypt from the Mamluk empire.
The 2,360-sq. meter mosque complex lies on the site of the
Fatimid-era tomb of Sayed Sariya, built in 1140 A.D. and which
still survives.
“To distinguish the Ottoman mosques, the minaret is usually
pencil-shaped,” said Mostafa Waziri, head of the Supreme Council of
Antiquities. “The mosque consists of the prayer area, the vicinity,
the Fatimid cemetery and the Kuttab (Quran school).”
The mosque, known as the Suleyman Pasha al-Khadim mosque and also
the Sariya mosque, is inside Cairo’s citadel. The citadelwas built
by the Muslim general Salah al-Din after he conquered Cairo from
the Fatimids. A few years later Salah al-Din went on to conquer
Jerusalem from the Crusaders.
The restoration took five years under the supervision of Egypt’s
Supreme Council of Antiquities and the military’s Arab Organisation
for Industrialisation.
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