Facing Sultan Hassan
A unique architectural pair.
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A huge, grand mosque on Citadel Square, facing the Mamluk Madrasa of Sultan Hassan, the two together forming one of the finest architectural views in Cairo. Khushyar Hanim, mother of Khedive Ismail, began it in 1869, and it was finished in 1912 on the site of an old shrine where Sheikh Ali Abu Shubbak al-Rifa'i was buried. It was designed to complement Sultan Hassan and rival it in scale, in a revived Mamluk style, with soaring walls, domes and two minarets, and inside are coloured marble columns, gilded ceilings and an inlaid minbar and mihrab. It is the royal mausoleum of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, holding the tombs of Khedive Ismail and his mother and other members of the family, as well as King Fuad I and King Farouk, the last king of Egypt. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, is also buried here. A foreign visitor's ticket costs about two hundred and twenty Egyptian pounds and includes the Madrasa of Sultan Hassan opposite; it opens from nine to five, and modest dress with a head covering for women is expected. It is a few steps from the Citadel of Saladin.
A unique architectural pair.
Khedive Ismail and King Farouk.
A lavish interior.
Citadel Square, opposite the Madrasa of Sultan Hassan
Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan HassanThe largest thing the Mamluks built, and to many historians the summit of Islami1 minute walk4.8
Muhammad Ali MosqueThe grey-domed mosque with two slender minarets that became Cairo's skyline, kno6 minutes walk4.8
Saladin CitadelThe fortress from which Egypt was ruled for seven hundred years, set on a spur o7 minutes walk4.5
Gayer-Anderson Museum (Bayt al-Kritliyya)Two joined old houses beside the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun, the older from the s10 minutes walk
Mosque of Ibn TulunThe oldest mosque in Egypt surviving in its original form, and the largest in ar11 minutes walk4.6Yes, one ticket covers both facing monuments on Citadel Square according to the ministry list.