|
 Cairo
is often called the city of 1,000 minarets, but there may actually be more than
that number and even more small mosques that actually have no need for, and thus
were built without minarets. All over Cario, there are many small mosques and
even today, any number of fairly wealthy members of the Cairo Muslim populous
fund private or small mosques. This is a tradition that has carried
through from antiquity. The Mosque of al-Burdayni is a small gem of a structure traditionally dated
to between 1616 and 1629. However, it was completed in 1694 by a wealthy
merchant. It was begun by a religious scholar named Karim al-Din al-Burdayni who
lived in the Ottoman period, but who was actually not a Turk, nor even a member
of the ruling class, but an Egyptian Shaykh of the Shafi'i rite.
Hence, there was no real royal support for this basically privately funded
facility. Perhaps because of this, its
minaret is not characteristic of the Ottoman style, and in fact the whole of the
facade is totally Mamluk, a revival of the Qaytbay period.
This is a very small mosque, actually no larger then a square room with a raised
gallery at the northwest end, though richly decorated. The walls are completely
covered with marble panels,  marble and mosaic arcading and marble roundels,
while the ceiling shimmers with soft gilt, and the stained glass windows glow
with color. Located in the Dawudiyya district not far from the much more somber
Mosque of Malika Safiyya, it is a small, architectural gem.
The mosque has two facades. The western one provides the entrance portal with
the minaret on its right side. The minaret's fist story is octagonal, while the
second section is carved. The final upper section consists of a bulb resting on
a balcony on stalactites, and thus is an imitation of late Mamluk minarets with
a carved first story decorated with keel-arched niches framed with moldings. The
two balconies of the minaret rest on stalactites of different patterns. Hence,
the only real difference between this minaret and earlier Mamluk structures is
that the bulb is not carried on an octagonal pavilion, but set directly above
the upper balcony. However, the quality of the carving is less refined than that
of the Qaytbay period. It is the only Ottoman period minaret with an inscription
band, here placed on the octagonal section and dating to 1623, much later than
that of the mosque itself.
 
The mosque is L-shaped, with a qibla wall entirely covered with marble
polychrome panels. The other w3alls have a high marble dada. The windows have
both stucco and colored stained glass decorations. The prayer niche, richly
decorated with inlaid marble and blue-glass paste, is one of the finest examples
of decoration in the Mamluk tradition, while the ceiling is richly painted.
Detail, Windows and Doorway of the Mosque of
al-Burdayni
More Details, including (right) the minarets
References:
| Title |
Author |
Date |
Publisher |
Reference
Number |
| Historical Cairo (A Walk
Through the Islamic City) |
Antonious, Jim |
1988 |
American University in Cairo
Press, The |
ISBN 977-424-497-4 |
| Islamic Monuments in Cairo,
A Practical Guide |
Paker, Richard B.; Sabin,
Robin; Williams, Caroline |
1985 |
American University in Cairo
Press, The |
ISBN 977 424 036 7 |
| Islamic Architecture in
Cairo: An Introduction |
Behrens-Abouseif, Doris |
1992 |
E. J. Brill |
ISBN 90-04-08677-3 |
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