Ibna Tulun

I am currently taking a course here at AUC called Islamic Art and Architecture of the city of Cairo. You can kind of cancel out the art because really its just architecture. (Which is art anyway but you get my point). My class we learn a lot of background history of Egypt and Islamic history its a nice overview and im really learning a lot about that but also we are exploring of course the many building left behind by each different caliphate/ruler/sultan/general so it is some very cool stuff.

Even better is that the class includes some seven or 8 field trips on the weekends to visit the sites we talk about in class. Since Cairo has never really been leveled or conquered in a very destructive way most of the mosques and buildings that have been built since 800's and on have survived. This saturday we ended up going to 3 specific mosques Ibna Tulun, Al-Azhar, and Al-Hakim Mosque.

I realize that to many people the minutia of the details of each different mosque is probably actually a bit boring so ill keep this brief. Most of the mosques were built during the Fatimid period 900's-1100's when Egypt was Shiia' instead of Sunni. Although of course the mosques have been restored and like Al-Azhar many things were added over the years they still remain very close in style as to when they were built. So rather than write more here are just some of the photos.

The Minaret of Ibna Tulun

Views from the Minaret

Ibna Tulun interior

The Mosque at Al-Azhar University

Al-Hakim Mosque in Islamic Cairo