Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Originally, Mosque of Sultan Hassan was a madrasa, that is, a school dedicated to Islam. However, it acquired the status of a congregational mosque for Friday sermons and has since become one of the most visited mosques in Cairo.
Sultan Hassan Mosque Cairo is one of the most delicate and outstanding examples of Mamluk architecture in Cairo. It is considered one of the most beautiful mosques in the city, and some even cite it as part of the largest Islamic monuments in the world.
With such impressive references, it is clear that admiring the beauty of this monument and visiting its interior are two must-dos for every tourist in the Egyptian capital. One piece of advice: do it in the morning, since the sun illuminates the mausoleum that was built in such a way that the rays of dawn flood the entire enclosure.
Its area is about 8000 square meters, making it one of the largest mosques in the world.
Construction of this jewel of Islamic art was carried out in the mid-14th century, and one of the highest points of the Citadel of Saladin was chosen for its location, with one of the best panoramic views to be found in Cairo.
It was commissioned by Sultan Hassan but he never saw his monumental work completed due to strange circumstances of which there are at least two different versions.
The first and most widespread is the bad omen resulting from the collapse of the minaret. When it collapsed it killed over 300 people, leading many to believe that there was a tragic divine message surrounding this incident. The rumor began to spread and it did not take long for it to be confirmed, leading to the assassination of Sultan Hassan 33 days after the fall of the minaret.
The other account of the sultan’s death relates, on the one hand, to the tiringness of the work for the workers (it is said that Hasan ordered that there should not be a single day without work), and, on the other hand, to the corruption prevailing within his government, by placing like-minded people in positions that had been held by others for years. In short, Hasan had angered many people in many different classes, so that it was not long before a plot was hatched to assassinate him, which was directed through the commander-in-chief of his army, Yalbugha al-Umari, a Mamluk who was one of his followers. The sultan thought that I was loyal to him.
The construction supervisor was Prince Muhammad bin Baylik, as is evident from the inscription on the mosque, who also participated in other important constructions in Cairo.
The dimensions of the Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa are enormous. It is 150 metres long and occupies an area of more than 7,900 square metres.
The walls of the temple are 35 metres high, and its minaret is almost 70 metres high.
The first thing you see when you pass its facade is a huge central courtyard with a very beautiful mosaic design and in the middle of it the ablution pool, whose function is the ritual purification of certain parts of the body before prayer or prayer. From this courtyard you can reach the central room dedicated to prayer and four secondary rooms with schools built as a space for studying the holy books of the Qur’an.
In the background is a mausoleum dedicated to Sultan Hassan. The four secondary rooms (also called iwans) are characterized by their lamps hanging on chains and their red and black borders. Each madrasa has its own courtyard and four floors of cells for students and teachers.
The Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa contains some details that were new for the time in which it was built, which signified a change in the construction of subsequent mosques in the Arab world.
The first is its huge egg-shaped dome, which was unusual for the time and had no precedent in other mosques built in several Arab countries: Egypt, Syria, the Maghreb and Yemen. The second innovation is the arrangement of the mausoleum between the two minarets, as well as its placement behind the prayer hall, which in other times could have been considered a desecration of the holy books.
The third innovation was the design of the four minarets, with two double minarets on each side, something that had never been done before in any other mosque in the world but also failed to be implemented. Only three minarets were completed.
It is located next to Al-Rifai Mosque and is often visited together as part of a tour that includes other points of interest in the Citadel of Saladin, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun and the Alabaster Mosque.
The most convenient way to go is to take a taxi or private car from your hotel, at a pre-agreed price. Many tours to the Citadel of Saladin include round-trip transportation.
He was a ruler of Egypt twice: in 1347 when he was only 13 years old, and later in 1356. On the first occasion, he was dethroned by close officials, and in the second period he turned out to be a manipulated sultan, but he is responsible for the magnificent Islamic construction that we see today.
The construction work began in the same year that Hassan acceded to the throne for the second time. With 150 meters long, 35 meters high, and a minaret of 68 meters, it is considered one of the largest mosques in the world.
And a curious fact… Five years after the works had started, one of the minarets collapsed and caused the death of more than three thousand people. This tragedy was interpreted as a bad omen, which is why Sultan Hassan was killed in 1361. It was not until two years after this death that the mosque was completed, by one of its officials, Bashir Al Gamdar.
In fact, if you are a fan of ancient Egyptian history and civilization, you should visit Egypt and spend your vacation in the most important Islamic places in Egypt, because you will discover a lot about mosques and their importance because they were also a place for education. Sultan Hassan Mosque is distinguished by its unique and distinctive design. It is certain that you should visit Egypt and enjoy watching the mosques.
