Sultan Hassan Madrassa and Mosque in Cairo, Egypt | Plan, Design, History, Facts About the mosque

Sultan Hassan Madrasa and Mosque in Cairo Egypt is the jewel of Islamic architecture in the East, the most consistent and harmonious monument of Islamic Cairo. It represents the stage of maturity of Mamluk architecture. The mosque was built by Sultan Al-Nasir Hassan Ibn Al-Nasser Muhammad Ibn Qalawun during the era of the Bahri Mamluk rule of Egypt. Sultan Hassan mosque was considered and still is still considered one of the most impressive historic monuments in Cairo today.

Sultan Hassan Madrassa and Mosque Location

The mosque of Sultan Hassan is located in Salah al-Din Square in the historic district of Cairo, Egypt.

Who was Sultan Hassan who built the mosque and the madrasa?

December 18 of the year 1347 AD, Sultan Hassan took over the rule of Egypt, one of the most prominent Mamluk sultans. Sultan Hassan is considered the nineteenth king of Egypt from the Turkish Mamluks, and the seventh of the sons of Al-Nasser Muhammad Ibn Qalawun.

He took over the Sultanate twice, one of them in the year 2347 when he was 13 years old at the time. Then he took over again in the year 1354 AD after being imprisoned for three years.

Sultan Al-Nasser Hassan Ibn Al-Sultan Al-Malik Al-Nasser Muhammad Ibn Al-Sultan Al-Malik Al-Mansur Qalawun. Sultan Hassan began to act as a true sultan after the period of tutelage ended and he reached the age of majority. But after a few months, the scene that was frequently repeated in the Mamluk era occurred, which is the struggle of the princes over power. As a result, Sultan Hassan was arrested and imprisoned.

His brother “Saleh”, who was called the good king Salah al-Din Saleh followed him. Sooner, the war broke out again and the princes also deposed him and decided to return to Sultan Hassan, and at that time he returned strong after he became a young man with experience in matters of conflict at this early age.

When the mosque of sultan Hassan was built?

Sultan Hassan ordered to build of what’s called the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan during the mid-14th century between 1356 and 1363 during the Bahri Mamluk period. It took 7 years but the sultan was killed before the construction was completed, and his body was not found.

Who is the designer (Architect) of the Sultan Hassan Mosque?

Sultan Hassan ordered the architect Muhammad ibn Bailick al-Muhseini to supervise the construction of the building. He placed his name after that of the sultan on the inscription band inside the Hanafi Madrasa.

Facts about Sultan Hassan Madrassa and Mosque

The Mamluk sultan Hasan ibn al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun built this mosque-madrasa
Sultan Hassan mosque takes three years without interruption, and the sultan died before it was built, and it was completed after him by one of his princes – Bashir al-Jamdar.
It is the greatest of Mamluk mosques
This mosque was built on the system of schools with orthogonal planning
The mausoleum of the Sultan Hassan Mosque is to the left of the mihrab door in the mosque
The mosque has two graceful minarets in the qibla Iwan. It was planned to build four minarets for the mosque, but the third fell, and the fourth was not built
Maqrizi mentions that the construction of the mosque cost 30,000 dirhams every day
The total construction costs amounted to over one million dinars, making it the most expensive mosque in medieval Cairo
Sultan Hassan used architects from all over the world to build this Great Mosque
Today, we still do not know how Sultan Al-Nasir Hassan Ibn Qalawun disappeared. We do not know where the Sultan went, and for this reason, there were many sayings that he was killed and buried in the heaps of ancient Egypt, but others believe that his body was thrown into the Nile River.
The door of the current mosque is not its original door, as its original door was covered with metal and copper, and Sultan Al-Muayyed Sheikh stole it and placed it on the door of his mosque in the Bab Zuweila area, and it still exists today bearing the name of Sultan Hassan.
The exterior of the complex is stone, and the interior is mostly brick with stucco decoration
The mosque was restored and repaired by the Egyptian Antiquities Preservation Committee in 1915 AD.

The mosque and madrasa of Sultan Hassan’s Plan and design

The mosque was built on the system of schools with orthogonal planning. Each school is considered to be a small mosque. Meanwhile, each of them is dedicated to teaching one of the four Islamic schools of thought (Fiqh), Shafii, Maliki, Hanbali, and Hanafi, the largest of these Hanafi schools.

Sultan Hassan Madrassa and Mosque cover a total area of about 8000 square meters. The mosque is in the form of a rectangle with irregular sides, its maximum length is 150 meters, and its maximum width is 68 meters. Besides, it is free from all sides. Therefore, the mosque has four facades, and the main facade is located on the northern side, which is 145 meters long and 37.80 meters high.

The mosque consists of a central open courtyard (Sahn) in the middle of which is an ablutions fountain. The courtyard is surrounded by four iwans which constitute the mosque proper.

Entrance

The main entrance is on the north side and it consists of a mix of stones and marble decorations. The top of the portal consists of nine tiers of muqarnas which resemble a honeycomb.

Vestibule

The entrance leads to a vestibule that allows you to either enter the mosque or other areas of the complex.

Courtyard

Passing the vestibule and turns left to its paths continuing to the courtyard, which is almost square in shape, 34.60 meters long on eight columns. The grand open paved courtyard with four large iwans facing onto it and a large domed ablution fountain in the center

Qibla Iwan

The Qibla Iwan is the largest of all, it measures 34 meters long and 32 meters wide and is entirely paved with marble. its walls are paneled with colored stone and marble. The walls are decorated with an inscription based on Qur’anic verses in Kufic script on a floriated background.

Moreover, The Qibla Iwan has a Mihrab and it is one of the most beautiful mihrabs in Egypt. The Mihrab is decorated with ornamented polychrome marble and gilded inscriptions. Adjacent to the mihrab is a marble pulpit with a copper door.

Dikka Al-Mouballegh (Bench)

In the middle of the Qibla Iwan is the Dikka Al-Mouballegh, which is made of marble and raised above 8 pillars and 3 piers. The Dikka is a large raised platform carved out of marble that allows individuals to loudly repeat the prayer so those in the back can hear it

Ablution fountain

The ablution fountain in the center of the mosque’s main courtyard dates back to the Ottoman era and it was used for purification before the prayers.

Four Madrasas

There are four madrasas around the main courtyard and each madrasa is like an independent mosque. Each madrasa consisted of a central courtyard, in the middle of which was a fountain. Each Madrasa is flanked by three floors building that includes student residential quarters.

Some of the student residential quarters overlook the courtyard of the school and others overlook the external facades. The Hanafi school is the largest of the schools. It has an area of 898 square meters. The goal of each madrasa was to teach religion according to the Sunni schools of law(jurisprudence), delving deep into the knowledge and teaching of Islam.

Minarets

Suntan Hassan Mosque and madrasa have two minarets on both sides of the mausoleum. They are supposed to be four minarets including two flanking the portal and two flanking the dome on the outer corners of the mausoleum on Salah El Din square.

The first minaret collapsed while Sultan Hasan was still alive in 1361 killing roughly three hundred people, mostly children attending the Qutab. The second was never built and two still stand today.

Both minarets consist of a square base followed by two octagonal stories in the manner of Mamluk minarets. The older is the southern minaret at 81.60 m high at the eastern façade of the building. While the eastern minaret is 74 meters high but both minarets were renovated in the 20th century.

Mausoleum

There are two doors open in the Qibla Iwan wall and they lead to a mausoleum where sultan Hassan is supposed to be buried. It is immediately behind the qibla wall with the mihrab, which represents a significant shift in planning and symbolism

The Mausoleum is decorated with a similar decoration to the qibla Iwan. The son of the builder Shihab Ahmad is buried in the mausoleum but Sultan Hassan was never buried there.

The mausoleum measures 21 square meters, and it is covered by a dome 48 m high. The Mihrab inside the mausoleum is decorated with geometric decoration in marble mosaic.

The teaching system in the Sultan Hassan Mosque and madrasa

Sultan Hassan hired a Sheikh(teacher) for teaching one of the four Islamic schools of thought (Fiqh).
Each group of students is 25 students
Three teaching assistants
A teacher of the interpretation of the Qur’an
A teacher of the interpretation of the Hadith (profit speech)
He appointed a teacher who memorized the Quran, knowing the seven readings
There were two places in the school to teach orphans, the Qur’an, and calligraphy, and the Sultan gave them clothes and food.
To ensure regular work in the school, Sultan Hassan appointed two to monitor attendance and absence, one at night and the other during the day
The sultan prepared a library and appointed a Liberian for it.
Two physicians were appointed, one for internal medicine and the other for ophthalmology. Each of them attends the mosque every day to treat those who need it from among the employees and students.

Address of Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa

Salah al-Din Square, Al Darb El Ahmar, El Khalifa, Cairo Governorate

Opening hours of the visit of Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa

Sultan Hassan mosque – madrasa opens daily between 09.00 AM and 17.00 pm.

Ticket price for the visit to Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa

You can purchase an Entrance ticket to Sultan Hassan Mosque and Madrasa at the Ticket window

Adult: EGP 60 (3 $)

Students with valid cards: EGP 30(1.5 $)

Children aged 6-12 years: EGP 30 (1.5 $)

Children under 6 years: FREE

Extra tip about Sultan Hassan Madrasa and Mosque

The Sultan Hassan Mosque is one of the most important tourist places that tourists of all cultures flock to. The beauty of its distinguished architecture also attracted many public figures around the world. The most prominent of these visits was the visit of former US President Barack Obama, his wife, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the US ambassador to Egypt at the time, Anne Patterson. in 2009 AD, and the visit lasted 37 minutes out of a total of nine hours in Egypt, to wander inside the mosque and witness the greatness of the Islamic building, walls, and decorations during the Mamluk era.
Sultan Hassan’s mosque image is still printed on the Egyptian 100-pound banknote & Hurghada to Pyramids Tours.