Domes of Cairo.
My project involves urban sketching the old domes of Cairo from the Mameluke era. Through my sketches, I aimed to document and preserve the unique architectural details and cultural significance of these historic structures. I seek to capture the essence each dome, creating a visual record of their beauty and historical value. This project serves to raise awareness about the architectural heritage of the Mameluke era in Cairo and contribute to the ongoing preservation efforts of these cultural landmarks.
The funerary complex of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay
is an architectural complex built by Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay in Cairo's Northern Cemetery, completed in 1474. It is often considered one of the most beautiful and accomplished monuments of late Egyptian Mamluk architecture, and is pictured on the Egyptian one pound note.
Rising from the cube of the mausoleum, the dome is buoyed up on rippling corner scrolls in the zone of transition. The zone is pierced on all four sides by triple windows surmounted by three oculi, and the drum of the dome is ringed by twelve round-headed windows.The inscribed flanking roundels and moulding around the windows and oculi echo the baroque rhythms of the scrolled corners. The dome is covered with magnificent stellar strapwork patterns interlaced with arabesque.
Previous domes have displayed only geometrical decoration, but this elaboration of interlaced arabesque marks a significant innovation.
This is a complex and original design. it is often cited as the apogee of Mamluk dome design in Cairo due to its complex stone-carved decorative pattern.
Rising from the cube of the mausoleum, the dome is buoyed up on rippling corner scrolls in the zone of transition. The zone is pierced on all four sides by triple windows surmounted by three oculi, and the drum of the dome is ringed by twelve round-headed windows.The inscribed flanking roundels and moulding around the windows and oculi echo the baroque rhythms of the scrolled corners. The dome is covered with magnificent stellar strapwork patterns interlaced with arabesque.
Previous domes have displayed only geometrical decoration, but this elaboration of interlaced arabesque marks a significant innovation.
This is a complex and original design. it is often cited as the apogee of Mamluk dome design in Cairo due to its complex stone-carved decorative pattern.
The funerary complex of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay
is an architectural complex built by Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay in Cairo's Northern Cemetery, completed in 1474. It is often considered one of the most beautiful and accomplished monuments of late Egyptian Mamluk architecture, and is pictured on the Egyptian one pound note.
Rising from the cube of the mausoleum, the dome is buoyed up on rippling corner scrolls in
the zone of transition. The zone is pierced on all four sides by triple windows surmounted by three oculi, and the drum of the dome is ringed by twelve round-headed windows.The inscribed flanking roundels and moulding around the windows and oculi echo the baroque rhythms of the scrolled corners. The dome is covered with magnificent stellar strapwork patterns interlaced with arabesque.
Previous domes have displayed only geometrical decoration, but this elaboration of interlaced arabesque marks a significant innovation.
This is a complex and original design. it is often cited as the apogee of Mamluk dome design in Cairo due to its complex stone-carved decorative pattern.
Rising from the cube of the mausoleum, the dome is buoyed up on rippling corner scrolls in
the zone of transition. The zone is pierced on all four sides by triple windows surmounted by three oculi, and the drum of the dome is ringed by twelve round-headed windows.The inscribed flanking roundels and moulding around the windows and oculi echo the baroque rhythms of the scrolled corners. The dome is covered with magnificent stellar strapwork patterns interlaced with arabesque.
Previous domes have displayed only geometrical decoration, but this elaboration of interlaced arabesque marks a significant innovation.
This is a complex and original design. it is often cited as the apogee of Mamluk dome design in Cairo due to its complex stone-carved decorative pattern.
Tomb of Amir Azrumuk , A.D.1504-5 / 909-10 A.H.
This is a very late-Mamluk tomb, built by a man who was 'Amir of One Hundred' under Sultan Qansuh al Ghuri, meaning that he served under the orders of this Sultan's Commander of the Armies, Amir Kebir Qurqumas, whose grand funerary complex stands some 1,500 metres away at the other end of the Northern Cemetery.
In their sophistication, the elaborate fleur-de-lys that crest the tomb chamber walls, and the complex crystalline-looking zone-of-transition are typical of architecture in Cairo in Sultan al-Ghuri's times. The dome itself is carved in fine floral motifs turned into abstract geometric patterns that defy the distinction between the object and its background. In the middle of each "leaf" is a drop-shaped blob of turquoise-coloured faience; this is a unique feature in Cairo.
The Madrasa of Amir Iljay al-Yusufi.
Was built in 1373 by the amir of Sayf al-Din Iljay, an amir "of the sword," who rose through the ranks.
The madrasa belongs to the cruciform four-iwan type, with the domed mausoleum overlooking the main street. The living units are separated from the madrasa's courtyard, whose sides are occupied by the four iwans, and they have their windows on a side street. Such extroversion is characteristic of late Bahri madrasas and expresses their active role in Cairene life.
The architecture of the main facade is the characteristic Mamluk style of the Bahri period.
Mamluk Cairene facades provide a stage for a dramatic visual play of forms and volumes positioned in such a way as to accentuate their contrasting outlines. Here such a configuration is exemplified by the vertical thrust of the minaret terminating in a bulb, the hemispherical counterbalance of the dome, the rectangular frame of the portal, the mass of the facade comprising a tall vertically articulated wall, the sabil strategically carved out at the corner (above which a cubical mass is subtracted from the bulk of the building for the kuttab loggia), and the horizontal band of shurfat (crenellations) to unify the facade.
The Mausoleum of al-Sultaniyya
was constructed in the 1350s-60s, and is possibly the mausoleum of the mother of Sultan Hasan. It is a remarkable example of the inventiveness in ribbed stone domes characteristic of the period between 1346 and 1400. The domes have double shells, a feature common in brick domes of Persia, but here it is translated into stone, a development not without precedent in Cairo. The ribbing of the domes is Fatimid in origin.
The double shells, high drums, square Kufic inscriptions around the drum of the northern dome, and ribs ending in mugarnas corbels are Persian features to be seen later in Timurid Samarkand. This Persian-style ribbing which ends with stalactites was assimilated into the ribbed, single-shell stone domes of the local Cairene school, as exemplified by the elongated dome of Yunus al-Dawadar constructed in 1382.
The double shells, high drums, square Kufic inscriptions around the drum of the northern dome, and ribs ending in mugarnas corbels are Persian features to be seen later in Timurid Samarkand. This Persian-style ribbing which ends with stalactites was assimilated into the ribbed, single-shell stone domes of the local Cairene school, as exemplified by the elongated dome of Yunus al-Dawadar constructed in 1382.
