Cairo Sights

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

#4 of 408 things to do in Cairo

#4 of 408 things to do in Cairo

1 reviews | Write a review

  • Address
    • Ibn Tulun
  • Hours
    • 8am-6pm

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Lonely Planet review for Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Another 250m west on Sharia as-Salbiyya, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is easily identified by its high walls topped with neat crenulations that resemble a string of paper dolls. Built between AD 876 and 879 by Ibn Tulun, who was sent to rule the outpost of Al-Fustat in the 9th century by the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, it is the city’s oldest intact, functioning Islamic monument. It’s also one of its most beautiful, despite a rather ham-fisted restoration using cement on the mud-brick-and-timber structure. Ibn Tulun drew inspiration from his homeland, particularly the ancient Mosque of Samarra (Iraq), on which the spiral minaret is modelled. He also added some innovations of his own: according to architectural historians, this is the first structure to use the pointed arch, a good 200 years before the European Gothic arch. The mosque covers 2.5 hectares, large enough for the whole community of Al-Fustat to assemble for Friday prayers.

 

Traveller reviews for Mosque of Ibn Tulun (1)

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    Ambience

    markbroadhead recommends this,

    A wonderful space. Very quiet when I visited, with only a handful of attendants and a similar number of travellers. Of course, it was the hottest part of the day, so that may have explained that. But even in the heat, walking around it was very calming. I'm no architecture expert, but there is something great about enclosed squares. Call them quadrangles, if you wish. Call it feng shui, if you will. Squares good. Circles good. Rectangles bad. Trapezoids...well...I'll get back to you when someone makes one a public space.

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