Muhammad Ali Mosque - The Citadel - Cairo, Egypt

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The Muhammad Ali Mosque, (sometimes called the Alabaster Mosque) located in the Citadel in Cairo, is one of the city's most popular Cairo tourist destinations. 

A Greek architect,Yusuf Bushnaq, was hired by Muhammad Ali and was charged with designing a mosque which would resemble the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Construction on the Muhammad Ali Mosque started in 1824. The mosque was completed in 1848.

The iron clock tower on the western wall of the courtyard (presented to Muhammad Ali by King Louis Philippe of France) features a tea salon on the upper level. Despite the fact that the clock itself has never actually worked, somehow the neo-gothic and oriental "look" of the clock does.

There are two minbars in the mosque. The gilded wooden one, an original structure, is said to be the largest of its kind in Egypt.

May 12th 2007

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Moh'd Ali Part 1-محمد علي با
 Al Jazeera Documentary


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