5/5 ahmed a. 4 years ago on Google
The
Al-Rifa'i
Mosque
was
constructed
in
two
phases
over
the
period
between
1869
and
1912
when
it
was
finally
completed.It
was
originally
commissioned
by Hoshiyar
Qadin,
the
mother
of
the
19th
century Khedive Isma'il
Pasha to
expand
and
replace
the
preexisting zawiya (shrine)
of
the
medieval
Islamic
saint Ahmed
al-Rifa'i.
The
zawiya
was
a
pilgrimage
site
for
locals
who
believed
that
the
tomb
had
mystical
healing
properties.
Hoshiyar
envisioned
a
dual
purpose
for
the
new
structure
as
a
house
for Sufi relics
and
a mausoleum for
the
royal
family
of
Egypt.
Over
the
course
of
its
construction
the
architect,
design,
and
purpose
were
changed.
The
original
architect
was
Hussein
Fahri
Pasha,
a
distant
cousin
in
the
dynasty
founded
by Muhammad
Ali
of
Egypt in
1803. He
died
during
the
first
phase
of
construction,
and
work
was
halted
after Khedive Isma'il
Pasha abdicated
in
1880.
Hoshiyar
Qadin
herself
died
in
1885,
and
work
was
not
resumed
until
1905
when
the
Khedive, Abbas
II
of
Egypt,
ordered
its
completion.
Work
was
supervised
by
the Hungarian architect Max
Herz,
head
of
the
Committee
for
the
Conservation
of
Arab
Monuments
in
Cairo.
The
building
itself
is
a
melange
of
styles
taken
primarily
from
the Mamluk period
of Egyptian
history,
including
its dome and minaret.
The
building
contains
a
large
prayer
hall
as
well
as
the
shrines
of al-Rifa'i and
two
other
local
saOints,
Ali
Abi-Shubbak
and
Yahya
al-Ansari.
The
building
itself
is
a
melange
of
styles
taken
primarily
from
the Mamluk period
of Egyptian
history,
including
its dome and minaret.
The
building
contains
a
large
prayer
hall
as
well
as
the
shrines
of al-Rifa'i and
two
other
local
saints,
Ali
Abi-Shubbak
and
Yahya
al-Ansari
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