al-Hakim Mosque - Cairo
Al-Hakim Mosque is located to the east of Muizz Street, just south of Bab Al-Futuh, it is also called al-Anwar Mosque (The Enlightened Mosque). This mosque is named after Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985–1021), the sixth Fatimid caliph of Egypt.
The memorial entrance with its huge size and fabulous decorations was very unique at its time. The construction of this mosque started in 990 but it wasn’t completed till 1013. The bases of the minarets are original and can be seen inside the buttresses, though the tops were replaced in 1303 by Baybars II al-Gashankir. Over the centuries, this mosque had been used as as a prison for captive Crusaders, Napoleon’s warehouse, Salah al-Din’s stable, a lamp factory, and a boys’ elementary school.
Napoleon’s soldiers at the end of the 18th century left the mosque in a bad state and it fell into disrepair. Originally the mosque stood outside the enclosure walls of Fatmid Cairo until Badr al-Gamali rebuilt the Northern Wall to include the al-Hakim mosque within the boundaries of the enclosed city.
In 1980, the mosque was extensively refurbished in white marble and gold trim by Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin.
The mosque has a very simple floor plan with four rectangle arcades surrounding the courtyard. One of the most beautiful architectural aspects of this mosque is its wide white marble floor that reflects the mosque itself from inside.
The influence of Ibn Tulun Mosque can also be felt in many architectural elements of the al-Hakim Mosque. al-Hakim mosque has two mehrabs, one is old and other is decorated with gold colour and surrounded by the Arabic inscriptions.
