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Favourite mosques and mausoleums

PsB

Citizen of Nowhere™
My favourites are mostly in Egypt: Cairo is one of the finest repositories of medieval architecture in the world.

Three of the best:
- Hassan: most impressive specimen of Mamluk style, basilica plan. Grandiose but austere. Perfect.
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- Ibn Tulun: beautiful courtyard mosque with very old style minaret
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- Al Azhar: arguably the oldest university in the world. A wonderful jumble of styles, incorporating recycled architectural elements from Greek/Roman periods.
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(Edit: they would appear to have given the place the Saudi renovation treatment, all shiny marble everywhere. Most unfortunate.)

Mausoleums in Cairo:
- Qaitbey: small but perfectly formed specimen of late, highly ornate Circassian Mamluk style. (Was on the Egyptian one-pound note for many years).
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- Barquq more or less same period, slightly less ornate
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- Qalaun mausoleum/madrasa, late Bahri Mamluk style
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There are some very fine and impressive mosques in Istanbul of course, but I don’t like the Ottoman style quite as much.

(Richgilb, over to you.)
 
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I still remember vividly my visit to the Mezquita in Cordoba. One of the most memorable buildings I've ever seen; nothing much from the outside, but the interior is one of those 'Wow!' moments.
 
Would this be the correct thread for synagogs, stupas, wats, pagodas, etc?
 
My favourites are mostly in Egypt: Cairo is one of the finest repositories of medieval architecture in the world.

Nothing to do with the thread - but I have to tell you that every time I see your avatar I hear a voice saying ‘How do you think your piano-playing is ever going to improve if you spend so much time looking at this stuff?’
 
Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (I have visited it)


Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan (I have also visited here)



Great mosque in Peshawar Pakistan (I have also been here)



Grand Mosque Kuwait City ( I have visited here as well) is spectacular inside
 
Naqsh-e Jahan in Isfahan is glorious, I think it is 10 or 12 years ago that I visited it and I felt extremely lucky to be a Brit in Iran at the time. Since then I've also visited Uzbekhistan and the mosque that I remember most is the Bibi-Khanym in Samarkand. Really it is a patched up ruin and in terms of being a treasured site to see it loses out to other mosques in Samarkand and Bukhara. However, it is the one that has really left a lasting impression on me.
 


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