Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo Egypt tours, prices, booking
Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo is a massive Mamluk era mosque. In fact, it located near the Citadel in Cairo. Its construction began in 1356. The work in Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo finished three years later. In fact, Sultan Hassan mosque was remarkable for its fantastic size and innovative architectural components. Sultan Hassan mosque designed to include schools for all four of the Sunni schools. They are Shafi’i, Malki, Hanafi and Hanbali. Sultan Hassan’s low profile seems inconsistent with the massive undertaking that was his mosque. The mosque’s grandeur makes sense given Sultan Hassan’s dramatic life. In fact, Sultan Hassan ascended the throne at the age of 13 in 1347. When he reached maturity in 1350, he arrested the Amir Manjaq.
Amir Manjaq controlled all the state’s affairs. Before that arrest, the Amir restricted to an allowance of just one hundred dirham per day. This pocket change collected by servants for the Sultan. At that time, the Amir Shaykhoun as estimated to have an income of 200,000 dirham per day. This deprivation may viewed as a prompt for his later extravagance. Upon taking over the reins, Sultan Hassan placed people of his own favor into positions of power. This happened at the expense of dignitaries currently in position. It upset many of them. Discontented Amirs arrested the Sultan in 1351, held him in jail for three years. They promoted his brother Salih to the throne. Hassan spent his time in jail studying and his obituaries commented on his learning as a result.
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He returned to power and again reshuffled the ruling establishment attempting to solidify power. Sultan Hassan assassinated by his commander in chief of the army, Yalbugha Al Umari. In fact, the commander was Mamluk and was not loyal. The commander rebelled against Sultan. That was because of Sultan’s extravagance in spending fortunes on women. A contemporary Syrian historian, Ibn Kathir, backed this reputation. Ibn Kathir blamed the sultan for his greed and squandering of public funds. The lavish expenses noted coincide with the Sultan’s extensive mosque. After his assassination, Sultan Hassan’s body hidden. It never found. Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo never served its purpose.
In fact, little information is available about the construction of the mosque. The source available is Al Maqrizi writing six decades later. He had access to access to administrative documents that are unavailable to historians today. Maqrizi mentions that the construction of the mosque cost 30,000 dirham every day. It made it the most expensive mosque in medieval Cairo. Financing for Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo paid by the austerity of Manjaq. It paid also by extortion from subjects and by Shaykhoun’s wealth. Even the Sultan may have considered the mosque of too great an expense. An inscription on the mosque notes the name of Amir Mohammed ibn Biylik. He was a supervisor of the construction of the mosque.
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His name placed near Sultan Hassan’s in the inscription. The supervisor’s name alongside the patron’s demonstrated how massive an undertaking the mosque was. The emir’s high standing otherwise was another sign of this prestige. Other labor for Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo restricted by the population loss. It was because of the Black Death. But as this was such a large undertaking, it attracted craftsmen from all over the Mamluk Empire. The construction of the minarets is of particular interest. Plans called for four minarets, but only three ever constructed. One of the minarets collapsed and three hundred people killed. Al Maqrizi noted that the minaret’s fall ignited conversation across Cairo and Fustat about the impending downfall of the state.
Al Maqrizi noted also that a poet wrote lines in response. They said that the fall of the minaret meant that God was present in it. The conversations in the public came to fruition. Sultan Hassan’s assassination followed the minaret’s fall by thirty-three days. Construction of Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo continued after the Sultan’s death. But it still never completed. Sultan Hassan mosque built close to the Citadel. It is on the site of the Palace of Yalbugha al Yahawws. This meant as a pleasing site for the Sultan to look down on from his palace in the Citadel. During the medieval era, an open space connected the mosque and the Citadel. This proximity and the mosque’s sturdiness gave the mosque a unique strategic significance. Ibn Ilyas reported that it used by Mamluk rebels as a fort to attack the Citadel from.
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Mamluk rebels began to bombard the Citadel from there. For this reason, the Sultan Janbulat tried to demolish the mosque. After three days of attempted demolition, he had little success and gave up. In fact, Sultan Barquq demolished the stairs to the two minarets. It was to make it less useful in attacks against the Citadel. The sheer size of Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo set it apart. Al Maqrizi noted that the height of the large iwan was superlative. It measured 65 cubits, five higher than Iwan of Kusraw at Al Mada’in in Iraq.
Several unique features about the mosque should also noted. The great dome not equaled in Egypt, Syria, Morocco and Yemen. Despite the thickness of the mausoleum walls, the dome made of wood. Sultan Hassan mosque’s dome was of an uncommon shape, that of an egg. The positioning of the mausoleum between two minarets was quite novel. Four minarets planned, but they never completed. This was an exceptional number for a mosque. The design of the twin portal minarets was uncommon as was the gigantic size of the mosque. Sultan Hassan mosque is the only instance of chinoiserie in Mamluk architecture. The setup of Sultan Hassan mosque Cairo was novel as well. The mausoleum placed behind the prayer hall. This might have thought profane, but it was not at the time.