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Home >> Africa >> Egypt >> Cairo >> Islamic Cairo
 

We started our day with the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.

We started our day with the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. The mosque was completed in 879 AD on Mount Yashkur in a settlement named al-Qata'i by the founder of Egypt's Tulunid Dynasty (868-905 AD), Ahmad ibn Tulun. This mosque was very photogenic and was one of our favourite mosques we saw in Egypt. Looking towards the Citadel. On our left is the Rafai Mosque, and on the right is the Madrasa of Sultan Hassan. To be honest, we were really not impressed by the mosques after what we'd seen in Turkey and Morocco. They all charge expensive admission, there's no one actually worshipping in them, they're not well kept up... We should have just stopped after Ibn Tulun and gone back to shopping. Inside the Madrasa of Sultan Hassan Rafai Mosque The outside of the Rafai Mosque We walked to the Citadel from the mosques. Despite being RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER it takes about 1.5 hours to walk there because you have to walk all the way round the far side. They do this so they can funnel everyone through the same entry gate and charge admission. The admission gate itself is flanked by bank machines, and tight security. If you have anything that's not allowed, they'll store it for you, for a good price for you my friend. The Muhammad Ali Mosque is a bad copy of Istanbul's Blue Mosque. Inside the courtyard of the Muhammad Ali mosque, there is a clock tower that was given to Ali by the French in exchange for the obelisk that is in Place de la Concorde. The clock has never worked. They should have asked for their obelisk back... Well, at least we got this nice shot. Above Wendy's head are the Pyramids of Giza. This is the Mausoleum and Mosque of Qaytbay in The Cities of the Dead, which is not worth going to, by the way.