Wakala of the Sultan Qānsūh al-Ghawrī

This wakala, an urban commercial and residential building[1], was constructed near the funerary complex of Sultan Qānsūh al-Ghawrī (r. 1501–16); its income ensured its operation.

The main entrance is framed by a large trefoil arch whose design is characteristic of contemporary Mamluk architecture, particularly that of the reign of its patron[2]. In the corners, muqarnas were applied to the pendentives and upper niche, where they constitute a double frieze. The arch fits into a rectangular frame demarcated by a band sculpted with geometric interlace. This organisation is reminiscent of the Seljuk architecture of Anatolia, both in the neatness of the work and in the choice of motif.

The courtyard, with its marble central fountain, was a place to meet and converse. It gives access, through an arcade of pointed arches on piers, to twenty vaulted rooms intended for negotiations between merchants who had often come from afar. The first floor contained similar rooms. The two upper levels built in brick are accessible through a separate entrance to the west. They illustrate the other function of the wakala: accommodation. It contained split-level apartments. Between the two levels, an intermediate zone housed the kitchens and storage rooms. As in the private residences of Cairo, the lower level contained the reception rooms and latrines, while the upper level constituted the private space. In Cairo, the wakala built by Sultan Qā‘it Bay (r. 1468–96) in 1480, now vanished, was the model for these establishments.

Commercial and residential buildings were already widespread in the East during the Achaemenid period (550–330 BC). The trend continued after the Islamic conquest, and a real chain of caravanserais, located every thirty kilometres[3] on the roads[4][5] (term inherited from the Arabic funduk) dei Tedeschi, rebuilt on the Grand Canal during the same period as the al-Ghawrī wakala was being constructed, has a very similar plan. or in places where trade took place in the cities, developed. These foundations found an echo in the West, for example in Venice, where the Fondaco

Projecting wooden moucharabies, supported by wooden consoles, occupy the upper section of the façade. The lower levels are enlivened by windows with wooden jalousies and louvered shutters allowing occupants to see outside without being seen. All the openings were on the various floors of the wakala. The same arrangement was adopted around the inner courtyard; the privacy of the inhabitants was thus maintained and contact with other occupants was made possible. Woodwork was an area of excellence in the Mamluk decorative arts and a speciality of the city of Cairo: the twenty-nine moucharabies of the façade as well as the windows with jalousies and louvered shutters are rare surviving examples still in situ[6]. The general appearance of the civil buildings of the city, decorated with these wooden items providing ventilation, shade and privacy, may thus be imagined.

The wakala was recently converted into a centre for the conservation of traditional crafts. This restoration of a historical building for contemporary use, very common in Turkey and Iran, is probably an example to follow, to hope to preserve at least some of these commercial buildings – there were some 400 of them at the end of the Ottoman period – most of them in an advanced state of dilapidation.

[2] Cf. Bāb al-Badistan (1511) or the entrance of the Sultan al-Ghawrī Mosque (1504).

[3] The thirty kilometres correspond to the distance travelled by a caravan in a day.

[4] The Seljuks of Anatolia (1077–1307) built dozens of khans on their territory, for example Sultan Han built one (1229) on the road linking Konya to Aksaray.

[5] The Fondaco dei Tedeschi for German merchants was rebuilt after the fire of 1505. The disparate layout of the former building gave way to a building rationally organised around a central courtyard.

[6] On the other hand, the moucharabies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries may be seen all over the streets of Cairo.