Don’t miss the spectacular Sultan Hassan complex and the Refaai Mosque in Al-Qalaa Square in medieval Cairo. You will get the opportunity to see two of the largest and most costly mosques in all of Islam.
The proprietors of these mosques all have exciting stories, which you may also hear about. They have the same Mamluk architectural style and the resulting technical challenges while being constructed in separate eras. The Sultan Hassan Mosque and the Refaai Mosque were built between 1360 and 1912.
His father, Al-Nasser Mohamed Ibn Qalawoun, was the renowned Mamluk Sultan, whose enormous complex included a mosque, a tomb, a Quran school, and a bimarestan. It’s in the heart of ancient Cairo, on Bein Al-Qasrein Street.
Sultan Hassan’s father was the renowned Mamluk ruler Sultan Al-Nasser Mohamed Ibn Qalawoun (hospital). Hassan acquired the sultanate at the tender age of 13, in 1347, although he did not assume power until 1350 when he imprisoned Emir Manjaq.
A historian from Syria named Ibn Kathir (who lived from 1301 to 1373) complained that the Sultan wasted tax money. The enormous mosque and madrasa that the king constructed and lavishly embellished are prime examples of this.
In 1357, Sultan Hassan tasked Prince Mohamed Ibn Baylik Al-Muhsani with supervising the construction of his mosque. The death of the Sultan proved that the fighting was far from ended. If all the necessary repairs had been made, the mosques’ outside wooden plaques would have been intricately carved to match the decorations seen on the mosque’s interior walls.
Initially, the mosque was a part of a larger Mamluk religious complex that included a bimarestan, a bath, and a madrassa. The open space between the mosque and the Salah el-Din Citadel, the Sultan’s capital at the time, was designed with the Sultan’s satisfaction in mind.
Unique in its grandeur and decorated in a fresh and modern way, this building stands out from the others. Despite being commissioned by a relatively obscure monarch, the Sultan Hassan Mosque complex was reported to include multiple architectural marvels of medieval historian Al-Maqrizi.
Because of its novel architectural and decorative techniques, this mosque complex stands out from the crowd. The layout was that of a cross, with a central courtyard and four iwans on each side.
Each of the four schools of Sunni Imams—the Al-Hanafi, Al-Shafei, the Al-Hanbali, and the Al-Maliki—is represented by a different kind of domed chamber with arcades called an iwan. The biggest of the four iwans is the qibla iwan. Above the marble mihrab is an oculus, and the walls are adorned with panels in several shades of marble that have been decorated with floral patterns. Two recessed windows may be seen in the qibla iwan as well.
Located in front of the qibla iwan is the deck at al-mouballegh. The “bench of the repeater” is another name for marble construction, with the ree piers and eight pillars providing support. A tomb with a dome sits behind the mihrab, and two entrances to the crown may be found in the Aquila’s supporting wall. The height is 21 square meters in size and is decorated in style reminiscent of the qibla iwan.
A total of 7,906 square meters, the mosque has four entrances, a central courtyard, prayer niches called iwans, a minbar (pulpit), and a walled-off prayer niche called a mihrab (place). The highest daily construction expenditure in Cairo during the Middle Ages was incurred by this mosque, at 30,000 dirhams. The government has taken the possessions of those who have died without leaving children or heirs to pay for this.
The best views are from the north-northeast corner of the structure. Four rows of windows run vertically up the sheer wall, and a massive cornice with five tiers of stone stalactites crowns the design. The almost square open plaza has a large ablution fountain in the center, and it is supported by eight marble columns and topped with a wooden dome. The tops of the columns are adorned with Quranic verses.
Broken or missing marble lintels in the fountain have been replaced with replicas. The fountain has been serviced, and the fountain’s sculptures and other ornaments were also given a thorough cleaning. With the maintenance completed, the fountain was shut off.
When the fountain was being repaired, attempts were made to trace the source of the water that fed it and flowed out of it, but no such source was discovered. However, the road drainage system wasn’t linked to the fountain.
The mosque’s historic baths were also renovated and reopened to the public as a part of the mosque’s expanded services. Just beyond the mosque’s main entrance, opposite the bimarestan, lies the old mosque bath.
It has a vast square marble bathing basin in the center and several smaller basins outside. The untreated wastewater was directed into a cesspit dug into the sand, while a water wheel inside the building generated treated water.
The plumbing in the bathroom operated like this. Each basin was supplied with pure water using the same method. The canal is constructed entirely of marble and allows swift currents. This is the first known instance of a complete bath being discovered in an Islamic structure.
The bimarestan and other smaller vaulted rooms may be near the water wheel area. According to Sunni Islamic conventions, the deceased were traditionally laid out in these chambers before funeral prayers were offered in the mosque.
Furniture and medical supplies characteristic of Mamluk hospitals would be installed in one of the rooms. Such an arrangement would offer visitors a feel for what a bimarestan could have looked like during the Mamluk period.
Internal excavations uncovered the remnants of a wekala from the 19th century and many ornamented marble columns.
