The Funerary Complex of Sultan Qaytbay stands in the Northern Cemetery of Cairo, Egypt, and is part of Historic Cairo, a UNESCO World Heritage site listed in 1979. The Mamluk sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay, who ruled from 1468 to 1496, began construction around 1470, and the mausoleum was completed in 1474. It is considered one of the most beautiful and accomplished monuments of late Mamluk architecture.
The complex includes a mosque, originally a madrasa, attached to the sultan's mausoleum, a smaller domed mausoleum for his sons, a loggia, a drinking trough for animals, an apartment complex and the surviving gate. The façade is built in ablaq, alternating dark and light stone. It has two domes and a three-story minaret.
The mausoleum dome is often cited as the peak of Mamluk dome design in Cairo. Qaytbay is credited with at least 85 structures across Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Mecca.
Comments