Sultan Hassan Madrassa
and Mosque
This is one of the
extraordinarily wonderful Islamic
Monuments In the Islamic World.
If Ancient Egypt is proud of the
Pyramids of Giza, Islamic Egypt has to
be proud of the Sultan Hassan
Madrassa. The founder of this
gigantic monument is the Sultan Hassan,
son of the great Mamluke Sultan
Al-Nasser Mohamed Ibn Qalawoun. Sultan
Hassan ruled twice, the first time in
1347, when he was 13 years old, only to
be dethroned by the other Mamluke
princes and generals. The second time
was in 1356A.D, and before he had time
to put an end to the power of the
princes and high officials, they
revolted against him, and the chief of
the army with other generals attacked
him. It said that he escaped from the
Citadel and hid in Cairo; but he was
found and imprisoned, never to be seen
again! Most probably he was murdered 16
years after his
ascension to the throne. Either way, he
left 10 sons and 6 daughters.
The Sultan Hassan gave
order for the construction of this
Madrassa to be under the supervision of
Prince Mohamed Ibn Baylik Al-Muhssani in
1361A.D, and the work continued for 4
years. The Mosque was almost complete
when Sultan Hassan disappeared or was
killed. It was finished by one of his
functionaries whose name was Bashir Al-Gamdar.
The site of the Madrassa was previously
known as Souk Al-Khayl or the Horses
Market. The Madrassa was built of
stones, but some internal parts and
details were built of bricks, faced with
stones.
The Madrassa-Mosque was
built according to the cruciform, an
open courtyard surrounded by 4 iwans. It
contains 4 Madrassas or religious
schools and is 7,906 square metres big.
It is very distinguishable due to its
many sides. It has 4 façades, the most
important being the 2 main façades.
The most remarkable
façade is the northeast one. It is 145m
long and 38m tall! Its shear wall has 4
pairs of windows set vertically, and at
the top of the wall is a massive cornice
of 5 layers of stalactites, projecting
about 1.5m.
The Sahn, or
the court, of the Mosque is
almost square, about 34m long and 32m wide,
with a large ablution fountain in the
centre, which is covered with a wooden dome,
carried on 8 marble columns around its
capital decorated with a band of
inscriptions of The Qur’an (the verse of Al-Kursi).
At each corner of the sahn is a door that
leads to one of the 4 Madrassas (schools);
the biggest one being the Hanafiyya Madrassa,
which occupies an area of 898 square metres. 
The quibla iwan is the
biggest of the 4 iwans of the Mosque. In its
wall, 2 windows in recesses, and an oculus
above the mihrab, the pointed-arched mihrab
is fine, and covered with marble, and there
are small double columns supporting the
frame with complex joggled voussoirs.
On the rectangular outer
frame is a band of Naskhi inscription.
Flanking the Mihrab are windows with bronze
grills. The marble Minbar is covered with
coloured panels of marble decorated in its
upper part by floral motifs.
The Dekkat Al-Mouballegh or
the bench of the repeater is situated at the
front of the quibla iwan, and it is made of
marble, raised on 8 pillars and 3 piers.
There are 2 doors opened in
the Quibla wall leading to a mausoleum dome
behind the mihrab, where the Sultan is
supposed to be buried. The Mausoleum dome is
21 square metres and its decoration is
similar to that of the quibla iwan.
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