The Mosque of Sultan Hassan is one of the old mosques of Egypt and one of its greatest. A lot has been said in praise of the mosque, and it has been described as the epitome of Islamic architecture.

The mosque was built by the Sultan Al-Nasir Hassan in 1363. Construction of the mosque began in 1356 and for the time of its construction it appeared that work on this mosque never stopped, even when Egypt was struck by the plague. This mosque was intended to have four minarets (a minaret is the tower-like part of the mosque), but while building it, the third minaret fell down and so the design was reworked to have two minarets. The official name of the mosque is “Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan”, which refers to the “madares” that were a very important part of the mosque. A madrasa (its plural is madares) can be considered as a predecessor of the modern schools. The Sultan Hassan Mosque had a madrasa for each of the main branches of Islamic theology, which were connected at the center with the central courtyard, so it was also an important educational center in Cairo. The interior decorations of the mosque are some of the most beautiful decorations in a mosque, with elements found in it to be of Syrian, Ottoman and Byzantine origins.

Historically, the mosque was also a witness to important events. The Eid (main muslim holiday) prayers were held in the mosque, and are still held there till this day. Also, the Saladin square, which is right in front of the mosque, was the place from which several of Egypt’s armies that fought some of its biggest wars were mobilized. The mosque was also central to disputes between the rulers of Cairo at different times, due to its height and closeness to the Citadel of Cairo, which was the headquarters of the Egyptian rulers at medieval times. At times of conflicts, the opposing party would go up the mosque and fire projectiles at the citadel, until Sultan Barquq ordered the blocking of the mosque’s roof by destroying the stairs leading to it.

This mosque is truly a work of art on the inside and the outside. Throughout its times, it has marvelled all of its visitors as a mosque that encompasses most of the artistic values of the Islamic architecture, and being there is the only way to experience this beauty.