Egypt

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

In Cairo’s Sayyida Zaynab district, the Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun offers something rare in a fast-changing capital: a vast medieval prayer complex whose plan and many architectural details remain legible. It is not simply a “very old mosque” or a place defined by its minaret. Built for the new administrative city of al-Qata’i, the complex reflects the ambitions of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, the governor who established a largely independent power base in Egypt under…...