Ahmad ibn Tulun Mosque, not only the oldest intact functioning Islamic site in Cairo, but also the third mosque constructed for the entire community and also a rare preserved example of the art and architecture of the Islamic classical period as well as one of the biggest mosques in Egypt.
The mosque is roughly square in shape, measuring 162 metres in length and 161 metres in width. The area reserved for prayer is rectangular in shape. It is surrounded by extensions on 3 sides, the extension is an enclosed space meant to separate the mosque from the markets in order to protect the mosque and the prayers from the noise of the street. The site chosen for mosque was a rock outcropping called ”Gabal Yashkur”.
This place has 19 doors on 3 sides, each corresponding to another door and there are another 3 doors cut into the ”qibla’s wall”. The lintels are composed of palm trunks, some of these doors still retain their original carvings.
The arcades are pointed and outlined with an edge of carved stucco and spring from oblong supports rounded at the corners by pilasters or engaged columns.
19 doors on 3 sides
During the medieval period, several houses were built up against the outside walls of the mosque. Most were demolished in 1928 by the Committee for the Conservation of Arab Monuments, however, two of the oldest and best-preserved homes were left intact.
Ahmad Ibn Tulun was born around 835 A.D; he was one of the Turkish commanders in Samarra, located in Iraq, and received his military and theological training in Samarra and Tarsus. His intelligence and courage attracted the attention of the Caliph, and in 868 A.D, the Caliph supported his step father Bakabak’s governorship of Egypt.
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