Amir Khayrbak Funerary Complex, Mosque-Madrasa of Al-Amir Khair Bak or Khayrbak Mosque () is a religious complex at Bab al-Wazir street (

Darb al-Ahmar Al-Darb al-Ahmar () is a historic neighbourhood in Cairo, Egypt. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Islamic Cairo, Historic Cairo. Located south of the old walled city of Cairo, originally built by the Fatimids in the 10th century, it ...

district),

Islamic Cairo Islamic Cairo (), or Medieval Cairo, officially Historic Cairo (القاهرة التاريخية ''al-Qāhira tārīkhiyya''), refers mostly to the areas of Cairo, Egypt, that were built from the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Muslim conquest in 641 C ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. It originally consisted of a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

established by the Ottoman governor of Egypt Khayr Bak in 1502 CE. Later he added a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

and a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, and annexed the adjacent Amir Alin Aq Palace (built in 1293) which was used by him as residence. On the surrounding area, there is

Citadel of Cairo The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin () is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residenc ...

located on the southeast, Amir Alin Aq Palace on the southwest,

Aqsunqur Mosque The Aqsunqur Mosque (, ; also known as the Blue Mosque (, ) or the Mosque of Ibrahim Agha (, ) is located in Cairo, Egypt and is one of several Blue Mosque (disambiguation), "blue mosques" in the world. It is situated in the Tabbana Quarter (Darb ...

on the northeast side. It is one of many Circassian (Burji) style

Mamluk architecture Mamluk architecture was the architectural style that developed under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk su ...

s built during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Architecture

On the exterior there is a domed roof with floral motifs, an arched entrance covered with

muqarnas Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...

, a pathway that leads to north end of the complex, and a

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

which lost its peak at the earthquake of 1884, but was reconstructed in 2003.Amir Khayrbak Funerary Complex
Retrieved April 6, 2020. As for the interior, it is rectangular shaped and there is an incised bowl with four ribs, and it is surrounded by four

iwan An iwan (, , also as ''ivan'' or ''ivān''/''īvān'', , ) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...

s. The eastern and western iwans are deeper than the iwan with

qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

which occupies the southern side of the building and the northern iwan on the opposite side, due to the building being rectangular. The walls of the iwans are surrounded by 1.5 meters marble mantle above the madrasa floor, topped with a strip inscribed with verses from

Surah A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...

al-Fath Al-Fath (, ; "The Victory") is the 48th chapter (surah) of the Qur'an with 29 verses ( ayat). The surah was revealed in Medina in the sixth year of the Hijrah, on the occasion of the Treaty of Hudaybiya between the Muslim city-state of Madina ...

. The

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

is in the middle of the southern wall and is surrounded by two smaller rings. These three girders occupy the whole area of the southern iwan.

References

External links

Government Website of Islamic artifacts
Mosques completed in the 1520s Religious buildings and structures completed in 1520 Buildings and structures in Cairo Mosque buildings with domes in Egypt Mausoleums in Egypt Mamluk architecture in Cairo Mosques in Cairo Tourist attractions in Egypt Mosque buildings with minarets in Egypt {{egypt-mosque-stub

Architecture

See also

References

External links