Mosque of Mohammad 'Ali

The ablution fountain, detail; The mosque erected by Muhammad 'Ali (reigned 1805-1848) is the most prominent monument in Cairo. Its commanding location on the citadel enables its soaring minarets to be seen throughout the city, and the combination of dome and semi-domes is successful as silhouette. As early as 1820, Muhammad 'Ali broached the idea of building a new mosque on the site with Pascal-Xavier Coste, who would hardly have deemed a mosque in the Ottoman metropolitan style appropriate. Work started in late 1828 under Yusuf Bushnaq, a Greek from Istanbul, and continued for at least nine years after Muhammad 'Ali's death. Although such centrally planned mosques in Istanbul as that of Sultan Ahmed have been cited as models, the copyist was blind to any of the subtleties of the originals. The interior of the mosque of Muhammad 'Ali may recreate the wonderful sense of space that characterizes mosques in Istanbul, but the way in which the four semi-domes are attached to the blank walls of the exterior without any transitional zone is extremely crude. The alabaster revetment of the mosque, which rises to 11 m, is another major aesthetic flaw; as even some contemporaries suspected, its poor weathering qualities have resulted in discolouration and pitting. The building served as Muhammad 'Ali's mausoleum, as he had intended. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 1/15/2008