Ahmad Ibn Tulun Mosque is one of the landmarks in Islamic Cairo. It is located on Jebal Yashkur in Al-Saliba Street or Cross Street. It is beside Gayer Anderson Museum or Bayt Al-Kritliyya.
Ahmad Ibn Tulun
Ahmad Ibn Tulun was an Abbasid governor who began the Tulunid dynasty and founded a new administrative capital that was al-Qata’i. Ahmad Ibn Tulun established the first independent state in Egypt during the Islamic periods.
Ibn Tulun Mosque
Ibn Tulun Mosque was constructed by Ahmad Ibn Tulun in 263 AH / 876 AD and completed in 266 AH / 879 AD for asserting his independence as a ruler of Egypt from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. The mosque is the only remaining building from al-Qata’I city.
This mosque is considered the second oldest mosque in Egypt after Amr Ibn Al As mosque, as well as it is the biggest mosque in Egypt as it was built on six acres and a half-acre.
Ibn Tulun decided to found this mosque by fired brick and on the top of Jebal Yashkur, a mountain in al-Qata’I city, to not burn or drown.
The architectural layout of this mosque was built on the traditional plan for congregational mosques, as it consists of four riwaqs and an open courtyard in the center of the mosque. This courtyard houses a water fountain surmounted by a dome and supported by marble columns.
The minaret of the mosque is one of the landmarks. It was supposed to be built on the same design as the minaret of the Abbasid mosque in Samarra in Iraq. This minaret of Samarra takes the spiral shape. You will be able to climb this minaret of Ibn Tulun Mosque and enjoy a fabulous view Al-Saliba Street and its monuments.
The mosque distinguishes with its windows made of stucco and designed with geometric and foliation forms, as there are no two windows are alike.
