A hammam or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model of the Roman thermae. Muslim bathhouses or hammams were historically found across the Middle East, North Africa, al-Andalus, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and in Southeastern Europe under Ottoman rule. A variation on the Muslim bathhouse, the Victorian Turkish bath, became popular as a form of therapy, a method of cleansing, and a place for relaxation during the Victorian era, rapidly spreading through the British Empire, the United States, and Western Europe.
Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872 to 901 A.H.. He was Circassian by birth, and was purchased by the ninth sultan Barsbay before being freed by the eleventh Sultan Jaqmaq. During his reign, he stabilized the Mamluk state and economy, consolidated the northern boundaries of the Sultanate with the Ottoman Empire, engaged in trade with other contemporaneous polities, and emerged as a great patron of art and architecture. In fact, although Qaitbay fought sixteen military campaigns, he is best remembered for the spectacular building projects that he sponsored, leaving his mark as an architectural patron on Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo, Alexandria, and every quarter of Cairo.
Islamic Cairo, or Medieval Cairo, officially Historic Cairo, refers mostly to the areas of Cairo, Egypt, that were built from the Muslim conquest in 641 CE until the city's modern expansion in the 19th century during Khedive Ismail's rule, namely: the central parts within the old walled city, the historic cemeteries, the area around the Citadel of Cairo, parts of Bulaq, and Old Cairo which dates back to Roman times and includes major Coptic Christian monuments.
Al-Malik Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq was the first Sultan of the Circassian Mamluk Burji dynasty of Egypt. He deposed sultan al-Salih Hajji to claim the throne for himself. Once in power, he placed many of his family members in positions of power. Rebelling governors in 1389 restored Hajji to the throne but Barquq was able to reclaim the throne shortly after and ruled until his death in 1399 and was succeeded by his son. The name Barquq is of Circassian origin and is his birth name.
Old Cairo is a historic area in Cairo, Egypt, which includes the site of a Roman-era fortress, the Christian settlement of Coptic Cairo, and the Muslim-era settlements pre-dating the founding of Cairo proper in 969 AD. It is part of what is referred to as Historic Cairo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis, also referred to as theQarafa, is a series of vast Islamic-era necropolises and cemeteries in Cairo, Egypt. They extend to the north and to the south of the Cairo Citadel, below the Mokattam Hills and outside the historic city walls, covering an area roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) long. They are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Historic Cairo".
The Khanqah of Baybars II is a medieval building located on historic Sharia Gamaliya in Cairo, Egypt. It was built between 1306 and 1310 in the medieval Islamic Cairo to accommodate four hundred Sufis and children of the Mamluk Sultanate. This is the oldest khanqah or convent that has survived in modern Cairo.
The Bayt al-Razzaz Palace or Beet el-Razzaz is a mansion, in the heart of medieval Cairo, Egypt, constructed from the late 15th century through the late 18th century. The 190-room urban palace in the Darb al-Ahmar neighborhood of medieval Cairo was abandoned in the 1960s, but a restoration project rehabilitated the eastern building between 1977 and 2007. The property belongs to the Ministry of State for Antiquities, which has plans to restore the western complex. It is also currently a place of many Egyptian craftsmen and women, with many local-artistic workshops.
Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street, or al-Muizz Street for short, is a major north-to-south street in the walled city of historic Cairo, Egypt. It is one of Cairo's oldest streets as it dates back to the foundation of the city by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century, under their fourth caliph, Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah . Historically, it was the most important artery of the city and was often referred to as the Qasaba. It constituted the main axis of the city's economic zones where its souqs (markets) were concentrated. The street's prestige also attracted the construction of many monumental religious and charitable buildings commissioned by Egypt's rulers and elites, making it a dense repository of historic Islamic architecture in Cairo. This is especially evident in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area, which is lined with some of the most important monuments of Islamic Cairo.
Fountain of Qayt Bay or Sabil Qaitbay is a domed public fountain (sabil) on the western esplanade of the al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, near the Madrasa al-Ashrafiyya. Built in the 15th century by the Mamluks of Egypt, it was completed in the reign of Sultan Qaytbay, after whom it is named. It is also colloquially known as the Fountain of Hamidiye due to Sultan Abdul Hamid II’s restoration. It has been considered, "after the Dome of the Rock, the most beautiful edifice in the Haram".
Bayn al-Qasrayn is an area located along al-Mu'izz Street in the center of medieval Islamic Cairo, within present day Cairo, Egypt. It corresponds to what was formerly a plaza between two palace complexes constructed in the 10th century by the Fatimids, as part of their palace-city named al-Qahirah. This later became the site of many monumental buildings constructed during the Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman periods, up to the 19th century. Many of these historical monuments are still standing today.
The Emir Qurqumas Complex is located in Medieval Cairo, Egypt, in the City of the dead.
The Madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad is a madrasa and mausoleum located in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area of al-Muizz street in Cairo, Egypt. It was built in the name of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, but its construction began between 1294 and 1295 under the reign of Sultan al-Adil Kitbugha, who was sultan in between al-Nasir Muhammad's first and seconds reigns. When al-Nasir Muhammad returned to the throne in 1299 he oversaw its construction until its completion in 1303. It is adjacent to the earlier hospital and funerary complex of Sultan Qalawun and the later Madrasa of Sultan Barquq.
Mamluk architecture was the architectural style that developed under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk sultans were prolific patrons of architecture and contributed enormously to the fabric of historic Cairo. The Mamluk period, particularly in the 14th century, oversaw the peak of Cairo's power and prosperity. Their architecture also appears in cities such as Damascus, Jerusalem, Aleppo, Tripoli, and Medina.
Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barquq or Mosque-Madrasa-Khanqah of Az-Zaher Barquq is a religious complex in Islamic Cairo, the historic medieval district of Cairo, Egypt. It was commissioned by Sultan al-Zahir Barquq as a school for religious education in the four Islamic schools of thought, composed of a mosque, madrasa, mausoleum and khanqah. The complex was constructed in 1384-1386 CE, with the dome added last. It was the first architectural facility built during the rule of the Circassian (Burji) dynasty of Mamluk Sultanate.
The Funerary Complex of Amir Taghribirdi or Mosque and Madrasa of Taghribirdi is a historical funerary complex of a mosque and madrasa located in Cairo, Egypt and built in the year 1440, during the Mamluk Sultanate. This monument honors Amir Taghribirdi, the mosque's commissioner and the secretary to Sultan al-Zahir Jaqmaq. The mosque and madrasa of Taghribirdi is located on a corner of Saliba street. This is not to be confused with a different Mosque of Taghribirdi, which is located in the Darb al-Maqasis neighborhood of Cairo.
The Wikala and Sabil-Kuttab of Sultan Qaytbay is a complex of monuments built by the Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Abu Al-Nasr Qaitbay in 1477 CE in Islamic Cairo, the historic medieval district of Cairo, Egypt. The complex consists of an urban caravanserai, a water dispensary (sabil), a water trough (hod), and a school (kuttab). It is located just south of Al-Azhar Mosque.
The Wikala of Sultan Qaytbay or Wakala of Sultan Qaytbay is an urban caravanserai and rab built by Sultan al-Ashraf Abu al-Nasr Qaitbay in 1481 CE in Islamic Cairo, the historic medieval district of Cairo, Egypt.
Al-Darb al-Ahmar is a centuries old historic neighbourhood in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic Cairo, Egypt. Located south of the old walled city of Cairo, originally built by the Fatimids in the 10th century, it began to urbanize largely during the 14th century in the Mamluk period.
Al-Mu'ayyad Shihab al-Din Ahmad was the son of Sayf ad-Din Inal, and a Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 26 February to 28 June 1461.
Entrance to the hammam on al-Muizz street
The changing room of the hammam
