BIA

MAI 2015
- -
Jeudi 28 mai 2015
Aqsunqur built his mosque in the 14 th century,
using a Syrian architectural style with a large
open courtyard enclosed by four riwâqs
(arcades). The dikkat al-mubaligh (tribune) from
which the Qur’an is recited is found in front of
the courtyard, while the mausoleum was
located at the portal’s northern side.
The prayer hall of the Blue Mosque
Cairo, the city of a thousand minarets, this
week saw the reopening after restoration of
two of its Mameluke mosques, the Aqsunqur
and Aymitsh al-Bagâsî Mosques in the al-Darb
al-Ahmar district of Islamic Cairo.
In the Tababân quarter of this part of the
city stands the Aqsunqur Mosque. The mosque
was damaged in the 1992 earthquake and
remained hidden beneath wooden scaffolding
and large green sheets. In 2001, the Aga Khan
Trust for Culture (AKTC) started a larger
project of al-Darb al-Ahmar Urban Regeneration
Programme and Aqsunqur mosque was among
the list.
The Aqsunqur Mosque also serves as a
funerary complex, containing the mausoleums
of its founder, Mameluke Emir Shams al-Dîn
Aqsunqur, and his sons, as well as a number
of children of the Baharî Mameluke sultan, al-
Nâsir Muhammad, and its principal restorer,
Ibrâhîm Agha al-Mustahfizân.
The mosque’s interior design is irregular
because of the restoration work carried out
during the Ottoman era, which changed the
cross-vaulted arcades to columns. The mihrâb
(prayer niche) was built in a geometric
interlaced style and decorated with relief
painted carvings, fluctuating lintel panels,
marble panels, carved marble registers and
mosaic inlay. To the right is the minbar (pulpit)
decorated with coloured stone inserts in lightgrey,
salmon, green and plum.
The three-storey minaret is situated at the
southern corner of the mosque’s façade. The
three storeys are circular, but the exterior of
each is done in a different style: the first is
plain, the second is ribbed and the third is a
bulb resting on a pavilion supported by eight
slender stone columns.
‘Abd al-‘Azîz said the condition of the
mosque had already started to decay in the
15 th century, leading the Mameluke Emir
Tughân to use it only for Friday prayers.
During the Ottoman era, Emir Ibrâhîm Agha
al-Mustahfizân restored the mosque’s arcades
and roofs and changed the decoration of the
prayer hall. He brought exquisite blue indigo
and green tiles from Constantinople and
Damascus, ‘Abd al-‘Azîz said, these being made
in the Iznik style with floral motifs depicting
cypress trees and vases holding tulips. “This is
why the mosque is known as the Blue Mosque,”
‘Abd al-‘Azîz pointed out, adding that al-
Mustahfizân built his own mausoleum inside the
mosque and decorated it with marble tiles.
The open court of the Blue Mosque
According to Muhammad ‘Abd al-‘Azîz, an
assistant to the minister of antiquities,
During the reign of the Khedive Tawfîq in
1899, the minaret of the mosque was restored
and covered with a metal sheath. In 1908, the
Comité de Conservation des Monuments de
l’Art arabe, a restoration association, restored
the mosque, but in 1992 it was closed to
worshippers because of earthquake damage.
The present restoration started in 2009
when the AKTC began a comprehensive project
BIA LI — Janvier/Juin 2015 140