Fodor's Expert Review Al-Azhar Mosque and University

Built in AD 970 by Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz, al-Azhar is the oldest university in the world. Although the Fatimids were Shi'ite, the Sunni Mamluks who ousted them recognized its importance and replaced the Shi'ite doctrine with Sunni orthodoxy. Today, the university has faculties of medicine, engineering, and religion. It also has auxiliary campuses across the city.

Al-Azhar's primary significance remains as a school of religious learning. All Egyptian clerics must be certified from it—a process that can take up to 15 years. Young men from all over the world study here in the traditional Socratic method; students sit with a tutor until both agree that the student is ready to go on. The Grand Imam of al-Azhar is not just the director of the university, but also the nation's supreme religious authority. The beauty of al-Azhar, unlike many other monuments, stems in part from the fact that it is alive and very much in use.

Built in pieces throughout the ages, al-Azhar is a mixture of architectural styles, and the enclosure now measures just under 3 acres. After you enter through the Gates of the Barbers, a 1752 Ottoman addition, remove your shoes and turn left to the Madrasa and Tomb of Amir Aqbugha. Note the organic-shaped mosaic pattern rare to Islamic ornamentation near the top of the recess in the qibla wall (wall in the direction of Mecca).

Back at the entrance, the Gates of Sultan Qaitbay, built in 1483, can be seen. The quality of ornamentation verifies this Mamluk leader's patronage of architecture. The finely carved minaret placed off-center is noteworthy. To the right is the Madrasa al-Taybarsiyya completed in 1309, and once ranked among the most spectacular madrasas in Mamluk Cairo. Only its qibla wall remains, and it’s said that the ceiling was once gold-plated.

Qaitbay’s gateway opens to a spacious courtyard, quite typical of early Islamic design. Through the keel arches is the entrance to the main sanctuary, which was traditionally a place to pray, learn, and sleep. It's part Fatimid, part Ottoman. The Ottoman extension is distinguished by a set of steps that divides it from the original. The two qibla walls, the painted wooden roof, the old metal gates that used to open for prayer, and the ornate stucco work of the Fatimid section are all noteworthy.

To the right of the Ottoman qibla wall is the Tomb of Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda, the man most responsible for the post-Mamluk extension of al-Azhar. To the extreme left along the Fatimid qibla wall is the Madrasa and Mausoleum of the Eunuch Gawhar al-Qanaqba’i, treasurer to Sultan Barsbay. It's small, but its intricately inlaid wooden doors, the stained-glass windows, and dome with an interlacing floral pattern are exceptional.

Return to the courtyard. To the right of the Minaret of Qaitbay is the Minaret of al-Ghuri, the tallest in the complex. Built in 1510, it’s divided into three sections like its predecessor but is tiled rather than carved. The first two are octagonal, and the final section, consisting of two pierced rectangular blocks, is unusual, and not at all like Qaitbay's plain cylinder.