Restoration on 900-Year-Old Al-Aqmar Mosque Has Been Completed

Considered the jewel of El Moez Street, Al-Aqmar Mosque will soon be open to the public after an extensive renovation. Commissioned in 1125, the nearly 900-year-old mosque is one of the oldest monuments in Cairo.

The renovations were overseen by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. A testament to the Fatimid dynasty’s artistic legacy, the mosque is famed for its expressive stonework and lavish decoration, as well as its strict sense of symmetry and the harmony of its internal axis. From behind the lavish façade, a  tranquil courtyard opens surrounded by rows of soaring, vaulted arches and a carved band of Kufic inscriptions in praise of God’s glory.

The restoration marks the fourth structural intervention in the mosque’s history, with the first, second, and third having occurred in 1397, 1848 and 1993.