26 July - 1 August 2001
Issue No.544
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 26 July - 1 August 2001 Issue No.544 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
AN ISLAMIC RELIC RESTORED: Rehabilitating the mosque and madrassa of El- Estadar, a nearly 600-year-old Islamic monument in medieval Cairo, is another of the Ministry of Culture's achievements aimed at saving a part of the nation's heritage that has crumbled following decades of neglect, reports Nevine El-Aref.
At Al-Gamaliya quarter in Al- Tambashkiya district adjacent to the collapsed palace of Al-Mussafirkhana the mosque and madrassa of El-Estadar stands waiting for worshippers and visitors. The edifice is finally to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid after three years of hiding behind scaffoldings, piles of sand and workers polishing and strengthening its walls.
The mosque and madrassa had suffered from environmental pollution, subsoil water, a high level of humidity, leakage from the maida (a fountain used for ritual ablutions) and decayed sewerage installed hundreds of years ago, not to mention the more recent adverse effects of the 1992 earthquake.
"One of the most serious causes of damage has been the ill-use of the mosque by worshippers, as well as encroachment, especially from traders, over the centuries," said Culture Minister Farouk Hosni. He explained that bazaar owners who rent shop space in the narrow street running parallel to the mosque and madrassa have been largely responsible for its deterioration.
Gaballa Ali Gaballa, general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the restoration was carried out according to the latest and most scientific methods "...and every effort was made to ensure that all original architectural features were retained."
Abdalla El-Attar, head of the Islamic and Coptic antiquities department of the SCA, said the aim of restoration was to strengthen the foundations of both buildings and protect them from future damage. To control water leakage, they used the "micro- pile system," which, he explained, involved the installation of sharp, pointed columns beneath the El-Estadar complex to reinforce its foundations.
The mosque and madrassa of El-Estadar is a unique edifice constructed in 1407 (810 of Hijra) at the order of Prince Gamaleddin El-Estadar, one of the influential Mameluke Circassian princes during the reign of El- Nasser Farag Ibn Barqouq. It has a distinguished Islamic architectural façade and a decorated minbar (pulpit).
photo: Mohamed Wassim
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page