Al-Rifai Mosque
Al-Rifai Mosque is one of the most ancient mosques in Egypt. It was built in 1329 AH, corresponding to 1911 AD.
The mosque is located opposite the Sultan Hassan Mosque in the Citadel area of Old Cairo.
It was named after Imam Ahmad Al-Rifai, who was born in the Hijaz and then moved to Iraq and settled in Egypt. Everyone who visits the mosque is amazed by the minute details in the decorations on the outer walls and the giant pillars at the outer gate. The mother of Khedive Ismail was the one who wanted to build this more. The mosque. The construction of this mosque has lasted 40 years. The Rifai Mosque contains many tombs of the most members of the ruling families in Egypt, so Khoshyar Hanim, the mother of Khedive Ismail, insisted on building it and commissioned the greatest engineer of Egypt to design it, Hussein Fahmy Pasha.
The mosque is located in the Citadel area, and from the sea side of the Al-Rifai Mosque is the entrance to al-Darb al-Ahmar, the road slopes from top to bottom towards Muhammad Ali Street. To the right is the Hassan Fathy House, which is an ancient antique house built in the Ottoman era.
Al-Rifai Mosque was built in a rectangular shape, on an area of 6,500 square meters, of which 1,767 square meters are for prayer service.
It was built in the Mamluk style that prevailed in the 19th and 20th centuries. It looked like buildings in Europe at that time. Imported construction materials have been imported from Europe. Its construction continued well until the death of the engineer Hussein Fahmy and after him Khoshyar Hanim, who recommended that she be buried in it, after which her son Khedive Ismail died and was buried next to her, and all this led to the suspension of the construction process for 25 years. During the reign of Hossein Helmy II, Max Hertz Pasha and his Italian assistant Carlo Virgilio Silvini ordered to complete its construction. And who completed it without the original engineer maps. Its construction was completed in 1911 and opened for Friday prayers in 1912.
Source: Architecture in Arabic
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