Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

'Mohamed Ali Mosque' Architectural Masterpiece in Heart of Cairo


Wed 14 Aug 2019 | 03:15 PM
Ahmed Yasser

Mohamed Ali Mosque is one of Egypt's most interesting mosques. It stands proudly on the highest point inside the Citadel of Salah EL-Din courtyard. It was built by ''Yousif Boushnaq'', a Turkish man who came from Istanbul, for this great mosque.

The mosque is classically Turkish style reflecting its ''Ottoman origins''. The cascading domes, slender minarets, constellation of hanging globe lamps and rich decorated ceiling.

The interior reflects some French rococo influences and is finished with ornate lines of red, green, and gold. There is a gold scalloped mihrab and two minbars.

Mohamed Ali Mosque

In the courtyard is a ''Turkish Baroque'' ablutions fountain, which the ''Rough Guide to Egypt'' describes as "resembling a giant Easter egg." The Mosque is rectangular in shape and consists of two sections. The western and eastern Section.

The eastern section is the part that was dedicated to prayer. It is square shape and has a roof with a central dome resting on four large arches supported by massive piers.

Surrounding the big central dome there are four half domes, while there are four more small domes covering the corners. The interior dome is impressive because of its size and shape, similar to the mosques of Istanbul.

 Mosque Decorations

There are 6 medals around dome which include the names of Allah ''God'' and Mohamed , as well as the names of the four Caliphs, Abou Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali. ''Mohamed Ali'' buried beneath a white marble monument on the right of the entrance behind a bronze grill.