Mohamed Ali, the ruler of Egypt from 1805 until 1849, set a gift on the highest point in the Saladin Citadel. It is the Mosque Of Muhammad Ali. When Mohamed Ali decided that, the Creative architect Youssef Boushnaq came from Turkey to amaze you today.
So, don’t miss viewing this unique mosque that is considered a remarkable historical, archaeological, and touristic landmarks in Cairo with a high pulpit that is believed to be the highest pulpit in the Islamic world, besides its famous long minarets that shook hands the sky and its domes, which are the largest domes in Egypt.
When you go through the Mosque Of Muhammad Ali, your feet will touch tiles that date back to 1848. As this Alabaster Mosque built in the period from 1830 to 1848. The construction process continued till the death of Mohamed Ali in 1849. And Mohamed Ali was buried in the tomb that he prepared for himself in the mosque. Then the work restarted again during the reign of his successors.
How Mohamed Ali Successors Continued Building Mohamed Ali Mosque!
Abbas Pasha, I started engraving the gates and the marble works. While Ismail Pasha provided the mosque with new doors with copper hangers and two gilded Qur’ans.
He prepared a compartment next to the minibar. In which “Sultan Abdulaziz I” could pray when he came to Egypt and visit the mosque. He also created a wall surrounding the mosque and added to it A bathroom.
Tawfiq Pasha repaired the marble of the courtyard, restored the domes, and supplied it with gilded Qur’ans. The mosque underwent restoration, as it was the first time during the reign of Fouad the First, and the second during the reign of King Farouk I, who also constructed the small marble pulpit in 1939.
That is why when you go around the Mohamed Ali Alabaster Mosque, you will find each inch narrates you his story. Especially when you will be with the accompany of our professional tour guides.
You will find yourself moving into a different era, enjoying seeing amazing decoration, a marble composition around a gilded copper shrine that combined Islamic and Turkish motifs influenced by Baroque and Rococo.
Sure, you realize now why the Mosque Of Muhammad Ali called Alabaster Mosque at The Citadel of Salah El-Din, and you will know more once entering the place to find the alabaster and the marble cover the building. Live the experience yourself, and see that great Islamic building.
The Design of The Mosque Of Muhammad Ali
Alabaster Mosque Cairo was designed based on the Sultan Ahmed Mosque Istanbul.
the Mosque Of Muhammad Ali is rectangular in its entirety and divided into two parts, the eastern section. It is the prayer house or mosque, which is the place of prayer. It is a square shape with a side length of 41 m. In the center of it, there is a high central dome that is one of the largest domes in Islamic architecture in Egypt.
the Mosque Of Muhammad Ali dome diameter is 21 m, and its height is 52 m. It has four large arches resting on 4 square pillars Huge, each 11m high. four semi-domes surround the mosque dome. In addition to a fifth half dome covers the projection of the mihrab block from the qibla wall.
The western part, which is the Haram or the open courtyard, and below it is a large cistern. There, you can find four galleries with arches carried on marble columns bearing small oval-shaped domes that circle the cistern.
Charming lead plates that end with copper crescents cover all the domes of the mosque, with its two sections, and the Haram.
Each in at this great mosque will surprise you. That is why most visitors to Egypt, are keening on visiting the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.
