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The Mosque of Amr is the oldest of Egypt,
first constructed in 641, following what general
Amr Ibni l-As thought was a sign from God:
At this spot a dove nested in his tent.
But the reason why the Mosque of Amr is not
on the itinerary of most tourists coming to Cairo,
is that nothing of the present structure is
original. The oldest parts date back to 827, but
most are fairly recent structures. But one detail
gives away the mosque's age: It lies lower than
the surrounding quarters. These have been built
over and over again, always using the rubble from
demolished houses as foundation.
The mosque is huge, its exterior quite
different from many other mosques. It is simple,
but from some angles quite beautiful. The front
minaret is notably small for a mosque with room
for perhaps 10,000 believers at the same time.
From this you can read something about the history
of minarets: the earliest mosques did not have
minarets, and when they were introduced (about the
time of construction for this one), they hardly
rose above the roof the mosque proper. |
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The back of the mosque. Note the extra
minaret facing towards one of Cairo's
few empty quarters, as well as the
meeting point between the concrete
reinforcement of the 1970's and the old
facade.
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