Qalāʾūn Complex

Situated on the main road in the medieval part of Cairo, on the original site of the western Fatimid palace, the complex of Sultan Qalāʾūn is a large L-shaped building, comprising a hospital (māristān), a mausoleum, and a madrasah. Complexes that included buildings with different functions had existed at least since the time of the Seljuks of Rūm (1071–1307). Common under the Ayyubids, and particularly under the Mamluks, they then developed extensively in the Ottoman and Safavid empires. The Qalāʾūn complex was built in less than two years and a fountain was added in 1326.

The facade, which is very long, isn’t rectilinear, but inscriptions that run along the entire facade and a row of merlons unify the ensemble. There are high, shallow niches in the facade, each with windows on three levels, which accentuate its verticality. The double lancet windows surmounted by an oculus in the upper part are reminiscent of Gothic cathedrals. These gemel windows were probably introduced by the Crusaders, and are found a little later in the first Ottoman architecture, such as the Hüdavendigar Külliye (complex) in Bursa (1365–1385). At the far end of the complex stands a three-storey minaret, whose uppermost, circular storey was added by al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalāʾūn in 1303 after an earthquake. Its decoration of intertwined polylobed arches is reminiscent of buildings in Spain (Alhambra in Granada) and the Maghrib.

In the ninth century, there were large charitable medical foundations in Baghdad and Cairo (māristān of Ibn Ţūlūn, 872–874). They then spread in the Islamic world, particularly in Syria, after the collapse of the empire. During a military campaign, Sultan Qalāʾūn was treated in the māristān of Nūr al-Dīn in Damascus, which he then used as a model to build his own hospital. Under the waqf (religious endowment) in Islamic law and as stipulated in the deed of foundation, treatment in the hospital was free and was provided for all Muslims, regardless of their social class, age, or sex; each patient had their own bed, as well as food and medicine prepared by pharmacists. It remained open up until the nineteenth century, before being abandoned and demolished in 1910, to make way for a new hospital.

The māristān of Qalāʾūn, like that of Nūr al-Dīn, was organized around a courtyard, onto which opened four large iwans (vaulted hall or domed hall, walled on three sides with a large opening arch). This plan may originate from Buddhist constructions in central Asia (the site of Adzhina Tepe). Commonly used in pre-Islamic Iran, it spread in the twelfth century to the Mediterranean world, along with the concept of the madrasah. The madrasah of Nūr al-Dīn in Damascus has three iwans; the madrasah in the Qalāʾūn has four, but of very different sizes, as two are very narrow, while another is actually a prayer hall. Enclosed by a two-storey arcade, which is reminiscent of certain older Byzantine constructions[1], this large iwan has a basilical plan with three naves, possibly in imitation of mosque architecture.

Tthe mausoleum and the madrasah’s large iwan open out onto the street, enabling passers-by to hear the recitations and prayers being said within. The mausoleum is separated from the madrasah by a passage with painted ceilings, and is probably the most well preserved part of the complex. A courtyard surrounded by arches leads to a domed room, richly decorated with marble and mother-of-pearl incrustations. There’s a mashrabiyya (turned-wood lattice screen) around the cenotaphs in the centre. Placed on a high octagonal drum that rests on a series of alternating pillars and columns, the dome recalls that of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem—the Mamluks liked to model their buildings on Umayyad monuments.