Qalawun's mausoleum
Marble, pearl and gold.
Ma7moudsmile — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammed Moussa — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mohammed Moussa — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sailko — CC BY 3.0 · Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia — CC BY 2.0 · Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia — CC BY 2.0 · Salma osayou — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Demaagh — CC BY-SA 4.0
A huge Mamluk complex in the heart of al-Muizz Street, built by Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun in 1284 and 1285 in just about thirteen months, comprising a madrasa, the sultan's mausoleum and a bimaristan, or hospital, that treated the sick for centuries. Its best-known part is the mausoleum, counted among the most beautiful in Cairo, with its high dome on granite columns, walls clad in coloured marble and mother-of-pearl, coloured stucco windows and gilded wooden ceilings. A long stone facade with arched windows and a massive minaret faces the street. Next to it stands the madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, whose Gothic marble portal was brought from a Crusader church in Acre after its fall in 1291, then the madrasa of Sultan Barquq, the three together forming al-Muizz Street's finest facade, lit up at night. The al-Muizz Street combined ticket costs a foreigner about two hundred and twenty Egyptian pounds according to the ministry list; it is sold at the Qalawun complex and covers several monuments, among them Qalawun, al-Nasir Muhammad, Barquq and Beshtak Palace, open from nine to five.
Marble, pearl and gold.
A Crusader Gothic door.
Lit up at night.
Al-Muizz li-Din Allah Street, Bayn al-Qasrayn, Gamaliya
Al-Muizz StreetA single street said to hold the greatest concentration of Islamic architecture 2 minutes walk4.5
Khan el-KhaliliCairo's great bazaar since the fourteenth century, and still a working market ra3 minutes walk4.3
Al-Hussein MosqueOne of the holiest and best-loved mosques in Egypt, on al-Hussein Square at the 4 minutes walk
Bayt al-SuhaymiA complete Ottoman house in an alley off Al-Muizz Street, and the best place in 4 minutes walk4.7
Al-Ghuri ComplexA Mamluk complex built by Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri, the second-to-last Mamluk sult5 minutes walkSeveral monuments on the street, among them the Qalawun complex, al-Nasir Muhammad's madrasa, Barquq's madrasa and Beshtak Palace; buy it at the Qalawun complex.