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Ibn Tulun Mosque
Tulunid period, 9th century
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Cairo owes one of its oldest and most beautiful mosques
to Ahmed Ibn Tulun, founder of the short-lived Tulunid
dynasty. The building, erected in 876 – 879 A.D., is
surrounded by very high outer walls, and on three sides
by narrow forecourts 530 ft (162 m) long. The spiral
shape of the lower part of the minaret, rising in the
northwest forecourt, shows the building’s connection
with the architectural style of the Abassid mosques of
Samarra (Iraq). At the center of the broad inner
courtyard, which has sides 300 ft (92 m) long, stands
the domed well house, built on a square ground plan.
Like the minaret (131 ft, 40 m), it was completely
renovated in the late 13th century under Sultan Lagin.
The sides of the courtyard are surrounded by pillared
arcades with pointed arches, built of red brick faced
with stucco. The marble paneled main prayer niche, the
great wooden pulpit (the minbar), and the dikka (rostrum
for the prayer leader) are in front of the prayer hall,
which has five aisles.
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