Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo
A mosque if Egypt sank or burns, it remains Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo
Ibn Tulun Mosqe by Paul Keller
In a unique historical huge and magnificent red brick building that was built in the 9th Century, where you see genius architecture and ingenuity design mixed with the charm of majestic decorations, you will feel that you hear these historical words repeated at each inch in this majestic architectural masterpiece, listening “I want to build a mosque if Egypt sank, it will remain, and if it burns, it remains.” That is how you will live real charm in Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo. However, what about these repeated words!
This phrase was said by Ahmad Ibn Tulun, the Turkish governor of Egypt and Syria, and that was how the order to build the third mosque in Islamic Egypt in 879 Ad, Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo. When visiting Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo, you will be in the embrace of the first mosque in Egypt to remain in its original condition since its construction, seeing these great red bricks as if they just had been placed.
Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo BW by Berthold Werner
Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo BW by Berthold Werner
First Mosque of Red Bricks
Ibn Tulun Mosque is the first mosque to be built with red bricks in Egypt, and the red bricks that if burned will harden, at this time you
feel as if you come back with the time until 876 AD, and stand in front of Ahmad Ibn Tulun and listen to his orders.
This historical sound will accompany you through this mosque that was built on top of a rock called “Yashkor” to avoid any damages that might happen as a result of the flooding to keep the mosque. At the same time, you will walk through 2.5 hectares area to be dazzled with the decorations that seem like the design of the ancient Mosque of Samarra (Iraq) until you will stop and the confusion full your eyes, seeing this marvelous high spiral minaret flying in the sky of Egypt. So, how will be your tour inside this genius architectural landmark?
Tour to Ibn Tulun Mosque
Go up to the doors of Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo by their circular steps and begin your great tour!
Welcome to the charm of the Abbasid architecture with artistic touches fascinates the eyes on large areas of more than six and a half acres at this third largest ancient mosque in the world.
Just go ahead to El-Sayeda Zainab district to find yourself ride a time gab takes you to marvelous history as you will be inside the city of “Al-Qata`a,” the capital of Islamic Egypt in the era of the Tulunid Empire, was built by Ahmed Ibn Tulun, there you will be in front of this genius landmark to enter Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo, finding a large open courtyard surrounded by four arcaded galleries.
Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo by upyernoz
Attractive pointed arches on huge brick piers, with columns at their corners; that is how you will begin the suspense of this captivating architecture. The surprise here is that the Ibn Tulun Mosque was the first building to use these pointed arches 200 years before the European Gothic arch.
Ibn Tulun Mosque by M1key.me
Ibn Tulun Mosque Description
As long as you will be inside Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo, you will find historical high walls surrounding you that will call you to come back with the time for more than 100 years ago, as if you see the shops & stalls that were filling the area are in front of you. These gigantic simple walls contain exquisite balconies, a large number of doors totaling 21 doors, a greater number of windows with 129 windows, and five stucco niches, the oldest of which dates back to the era of the Fatimid Caliph (Al-Mustansir Billah).
While you sink in this rare architecture, the mosque pulpit that was built by Mamluk Sultan Husam al-Din Lajin will call you to see how
Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo by Bakar_88
the majesty of building this great pulpit by the Indian teak wood and decorated with arabesque stars and leafy floral motifs and these decorations are inlaid with ivory artistically creatively, to find beside it the unique Mihrab.
The walls of the mosque’s mihrab are characterized by marble mosaics and topped with a band of glass decorations with inscriptions in Naskhi script, and they date back to the reign of Sultan Lajin.
Spiral Minaret
It is the time to spend amazing minutes looking forward to the spiral minaret of the mosque, which is the only one of its kind, which has no parallel among the minarets in Egypt. It has a staircase is external, from which it ascends to the roof, followed by a semi-circular spiral staircase, and the upper part is in the form of an incense burner. Its height reached 40.44 meters from the surface of the earth.
In the mosque, there is a marble fountain in the middle of the open courtyard, and it also includes a marble slab on which the name of Prince Ahmed bin Tulun is inscribed in simple Kufic script, and the date of construction is on one of the pillars of the qibla hallway in the third arcade, and it also contains a Qur’an written strip located below the ceiling representing the two largest surahs in the Holy Qur’an.
More Info You Need To Know About Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo
Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo by Charlie Phillips
Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo expressed the symbol of the independence from the Abbasid state and establishing the Tulunid state, as it was known at that time that the mosque was the center of Islamic capitals, and for this reason, Ahmed Ibn Tulun ordered the construction of the huge mosque in 877 AD and ended in 879 AD in the center of Al-Qata`, the capital of the state Tulunids, and its cost reached 120 thousand dinars.
Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo by Sailko
When you come to Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo, you will find a unique architectural view; next to this architectural charm of the Mosque of
Gayer Anderson House and Museum
Ibn Tulun, you will find two glorious archaeological houses dating back to the Ottoman era, specifically during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries AD, and they were combined into one house. These two houses are perfect examples of Egyptian homes during the Ottoman era; when you decide to enter this magic, you will be inside a rare painting decorated with Islamic antiques, original carpets, and luxurious furniture.
These houses were given to Robert Gayer-Anderson in the 1930s, who was a British colonial officer with the permission of the Egyptian government. He was an Orientalist and an avid collector; that is why these houses, which become museums when he left Cairo, filled with unique artistic masterpieces.
Ibn Tulun Mosque Cairo is available to visit daily from 9 am to 4 pm, and the entrance is free, while the visit hours for the Gayer Anderson Museum are from 9 am to 5 pm, and the ticket cost is 150 LE.
