Mosques in Egypt

    Arabs-lead by Amr Ibn El As- and Islam arrived for the first time in Egypt in the year 641 A.D. During this period,Egypt was severely ruled by the Romans who had taken Alexandria as capital city of the country.
Amr Ibn El As surrounded the fortress of Babylon(located in the south of the actual Cairo) for about forty days until the Romans surrended giving up one of their most impenetrable forts in Egypt.
It was there where Amr Ibn El As founded the first Islamic capital city in Egypt and named it Al Fusstat and built the first mosque in Egypt and Africa. The mosque still exists so does El Fusstat rather known as Masr El Qadima (old Egypt). A few months later,the Romans gave up Alexandria to the muslam leader announcing the debut of the Islamic empire in Egypt which lasted till 1805.
Several dynasties have ruled Egypt such as the Omayyads,the Toulounids, the Fatimids,The ayyoubids,the Mameluks and finally the Ottomans each leaving their traces in Islamic art and architecture.
Generally speaking,Islamic art is based on decoration using geometric figures and drawings of plants.Another art arose in this period: Caligraphy

(1)Double minaret built by Sultan Al Ghoury.
(2) 2nd minaret of Al Azhar built by Sultan Qait Bay.
(3) Minaret of Al Ghoury's mosque.

    This mosque is the first of the Fatimid mosques in Cairo.It was built by Gawhar Al Seqelly at the orders of the Caliph El Muezz Li Din Allah in 972 A.D. to serve as a mosque and school.It was called after Fatma Al Zahraa (daughter of the Prophet Mohamad).
The most important part of the mosque is the "Sahn"(court) with its arches standing on marble columns and the beautiful Fatimid gypsum decorations above.
Al Azhar has three minarets:
    The first one,a twin-peaked minaret,was built by the Sultan Qonsoah El Ghoury in 1510.
    The second,dating back to 1470 was built by the Sultan Qayet Bay and is distinguished by its beautiful proportioned Egyptian architectural lines.
    The third minaret was built by prince Abdel Rahman Katkhada one of the 18^th century princes.
The first lecture held in this mosque took place in 975 A.D.

Amr Ibn El As mosque:

This mosque was founded by Amr Ebn El As in 642 A.D.It is the first mosque to be built in Egypt and Africa. It is located to the north of the Roman fortress of Babylon.
Simple in design,its present plan consists of an open court("sahn")surrounded by four "rawaqs",the largest being the "Qiblah" rawaq with its marble pillars.Some of the wooden beams still bear Byzantine decoration in the form of vine leaf cluster motifs.

Ahmad Ibn Tulun's mosque:

When Ahmad Ibn Tulun arrived in Egypt,he founded a new capital city and called it Al Qattae-now known as Sayyedah Zeinab-and built his famous mosque in 879 A.D.It is the largest mosque in Egypt.It is of simple design:it is consisted of an open court("sahn")with an ablutions fountain in the center surrounded by four   "rawaqs",  the largest being the "Qiblah" rawaq.
The high walled additions are found in the South, West and North sides.                                                         
The mosque's walls are decorated by 128 latticed windows made of gypsum. The "mihrab" of marble and mosaic,is bordered by four columns with leaf-like crowns. The pulpit is made of wood and dates     back to the Mameluk period.                                                                                                           
But what really distinguishes this mosque from all others is the spiral stircase wounde around the minaret resembling the famous Samarra mosque in Iraq.                                                                   

Khan Al Khalily bazar

Khan el-Khalili, once known as the Turkish bazaar during the Ottoman period, is now usually just called the 'Khan', and the names of it and the Muski market are often used interchangeably to mean either. Named for the great Caravansary, the market was built in 1382 by the Emir Djaharks el-Khalili in the heart of the Fatimid City. Together with the al-Muski market to the west, they comprise one of Cairo's most important shopping areas. But more than that, they represent the market tradition which established Cairo as a major center of trade, and at the Khan, one will still find foreign merchants. Perhaps, this vary market was involved in the spice monopoly controlled by the Mamluks, which encouraged the Europeans to search for new routes to the East and led Columbus, indirectly, to discover the Americas. During its early period, the market was also a center for subversive groups, often subject to raids before the Sultan Ghawri rebuilt much of the area in the early 16th century. Regardless, it was trade which caused Cairo's early wealth, even from the time of the Babylon fort which was often a settlement of traders. This market is situated at one corner of a triangle of markets that go south to Bab Zuwayla and west to Azbakiyyah. The Khan is bordered on the south by al-Azhar Street and on the west by the Muski Market. One of the old original gates guards the entrance to the original courtyard which lies midway down Sikkit al-Badistan (street). On a narrow street leading off al-Badistand, one will find the El-Fishawi Cafe, or Cafe of Mirrors, which was once a meeting place for local artists, and is still frequented by the Nobel Award winning Naguib Mahfouz, one of Egypt's most well known authors. Egyptian buyers generally shop in the area north of al-Badistan and to the west, where prices may be lower. Better deals for gold and silver are to be found west of the Khan along the "street of the goldsellers", and further on one will find the Brass and Coppersmith Markets.

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