Mosque-Sabil of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar or Mosque-Sabil-Kuttab of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar ( ar, مسجد وسبيل سليمان أغا السلحدار) is a complex of

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, sabil and

kuttab A kuttab ( ar, كُتَّاب ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab ( ar, مَكْتَب) is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, ...

established during the era of

Muhammad Ali Pasha Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...

Islamic Cairo Islamic Cairo ( ar, قاهرة المعز, lit= Al-Mu'izz's Cairo), also called Historic Cairo or Medieval Cairo, refers generically to the historic areas of Cairo, Egypt, that existed before the city's modern expansion during the 19th and 20th ce ...

, the historic medieval district of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt. It is located at the beginning of Burjouan alley of the famed

Muizz Street Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street ( ar, شارع المعز لدين الله الفاطمي), or al-Muizz street for short, is a major north-to-south street in the walled city of historic Cairo, Egypt. It is one of Cairo's oldest streets as ...

.Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar Mosque and Sabil-Kuttab
archnet. On the other side it faces the extension of Al-Nahasin Street leading to the Bab Al-Shaareya square.

History

The building dates back to 1839.

Description

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The mosque consists of a rectangle divided into two sections. The western section contains sanctuary area of the mosque and a

sahn A ''sahn'' ( ar, صَحْن, '), is a courtyard in Islamic architecture, especially the formal courtyard of a mosque. Most traditional mosques have a large central ''sahn'', which is surrounded by a ''Riwaq (arcade), riwaq'' or arcade (architect ...

which is surrounded by a four-sided hallway covered by small domes built on marble pillars. Each dome is decorated with multicolored oil paintings with floral and geometric patterns and

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

ic inscriptions. The sahn is covered by wooden roof with a center opening for ventilation, lighting and protection of the mosque from rain. The eastern section contains a prayer room and consists of two pillars, each of which contains two marble columns. The two sections divide the place of prayer into three corridors parallel to the

qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...

wall. The place of prayer is covered by a wooden ceiling decorated with multicolored oil paintings. The qibla wall is in the prayer room and marble

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', 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 w ...

can be found on the center of it. The mosque was renovated in 2015 by the grandson of Suleiman Agha al-Silahdar. The sabil is located next to the adjacent kuttab. It is adorned with

Ottoman Baroque Ottoman Baroque architecture was a period in Ottoman architecture in the 18th century and early 19th century which was influenced by European Baroque architecture. Preceded by the changes of the Tulip period, Tulip Period, the style marked a signif ...

style facade strongly resembles that of Sabil of Ismail Pasha.

Interior

The interior Mosque Sabil of Sulayman Agha Al-Silahdar tends to be divided into two sections and the sections are divided in a form of a rectangular structure. The mosque is a focal ideal of the Ottoman style architecture which depicts the style of the characteristics of the Muhammad Ali architectural design. The Facade consists of floral designs in which replicates the European Renaissance architecture, and so are the granite structures which consists of oil paintings throughout the interior of the ceilings. The ornamental architecture of the facade of Sabil Sulyiman Agha Al-Silahadar is made of white marble and is embellished with Turkish calligraphy that reflects the Ottoman style. In terms of the Sabil, it was formed of marble, which was used to keep the temperature of the water cool. The outside area of the shattered forum structure is disguised with the shallow arches in the Ottoman Architecture. Just above the entryway of the mosque there is a tiny round balcony. The sacred structure of the roof is supported by various identical marbled walls that construct three columns corresponding to the qibla wall. The Dika is a form of artwork that involves the wooden archways that are above the entryway, interacting with the small spherical rooftop on the outside. The Columns of the interior of the mosque is surrounded by oblong windows that reflects the natural lighting in the inside coming from the courtyard. The inside of the interior of the Dome consisted of the different designs of the flowers in which had the Quranic inscriptions in the inside. Mosque-Sabil_of_Sulayman_Agha_al-Silahdar

Exterior

Throughout the exterior of Sulayman Agha Al-Silahdar's mosque the Sabil, is a charity fountain that was developed to provide free water to walkers seeking to get close to god in Islam. The Sabil was constructed on busy streets and not residential streets for a reason: to provide a huge proportion of the people passing by which provides a better use of the Sabil. The Sabil had an entry on the outside that was different from the mosque's entry. For example, the minaret on the exterior of the Sulayman Agha Al-Silahdar's, "an especially elegant shaft, tall, slender and cylindrical with elongated conical top stands between the madrasa and the mosque. The minaret included just a single balcony with longitudinal carvings.

References

External links