Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 28 January 1999 Issue No. 413
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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New look for old area

By Nevine El-Aref

The opening of the renovated mosque and madrassa (school) of Abdel-Ghani El-Fakhri and Youssef Agha El-Hin Mosque is a milestone in the efforts to preserve and protect the country's Islamic heritage. It marks the end of a five-year restoration which cost the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) LE4 million.

Both monuments had suffered badly from pollution, as well as from a high level of humidity, their ill use and the after-effects of the 1992 earthquake.

One of the most serious causes of damage was water leakage from both al-madia'a (a fountain used for ritual ablution) and a 100-year-old sewerage system next to them. The walls of the mosques had cracked, masonry was damaged and the stairs collapsed.

Youssef Agha El-Hin mosque is a small structure adjoined by a sabil (water fountain) and a kuttab (Qur'anic school).

Abdel-Ghani El-Fakhri is a larger mosque with a huge open court where gypsum windows are inlaid with stained glass. It contains lavishly decorated wooden ceilings, its floor is embellished with black and white marble, while its doors demonstrate the splendid art of interlocking wood joinery. The building is one of beautiful architectural design and the walls have been reinforced, missing and decayed stones replaced and masonry cleaned and desalinated.

El-Fakhri Mosque was constructed by Prince Fakhreddin Abdel-Ghani during Mameluke times and it is known as Game'a El-Banat or the Mosque for Girls, "because there was a belief that it helped women who had remained spinsters to break their bad luck and marry," said Abdallah El-Attar, head of the Islamic and Coptic monuments department, who explained that this happens during the first prostration in El-Gomaa prayer when the women quickly pass between the rows of seats.

To safeguard it from accumulation of rain water, which had previously affected many parts of the mosque's ceilings, waterproof material has been placed on the roof.

In the iwan al-qibla (hall with a niche facing Mecca), all the damaged columns of the prayer hall have been dismantled, restored and re-erected. The floor opening onto the main courtyard has also been raised.

"The supervision of both mosques will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) and I particularly hope that steps will be taken to protect them from future urban encroachments or ill-use," commented Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni at the inauguration.

Abdel-Rehim Shehata, Cairo governor, responded with assurance that "the lease contracts of houses, shops and workshops infringing on the historical monuments will be cancelled." He went on to explain that all the Islamic monuments in the historic zone are suffering from the same problem, but that governmental authorities are working together to protect them from inside and out.

Shehata's words are no idle threats. Already three shops which encroached on the backyard of El-Fakhri Mosque have been removed.

Both monuments are located in the Bab Al-Khalq area, overlooking the Islamic Museum, near El-Senari, a beautiful medieval house which is now being restored by a Franco-Egyptian team.

Ayman Abdel-Moneim, head of the Islamic Research Centre in the Ministry of Culture, said that the planned library will house thousands of books on the Islamic monuments of Cairo and that a touch-operated computer will be provided to serve the mosques' visitors.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni takes a look at the newly restored and opened mosque of Youssef Agha El-Hin in Bab El-Khalq area photos: Khaled El-Fiqi

 

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