Madrassa & Mausoleum of Qalaun

Built in just 13 months, the 1279 Madrassa & Mausoleum of Qalaun is both the earliest and the most splendid of the three buildings on this street. It was still closed for restoration at the time of research. The mausoleum, on the right, is a particularly intricate assemblage of inlaid stone and stucco, patterned with stars and floral motifs and lit by stained-glass windows.

The complex also includes a maristan (hospital), which Qalaun ordered built after he visited one in Damascus, where he was cured of colic. The Arab traveller and historian Ibn Battuta, who visited Cairo in 1325, was impressed that Qalaun's hospital contained 'an innumerable quantity of appliances and medicaments'. He also described how the mausoleum was flanked by Quran reciters day and night chanting requiems for the dead within.