Muhammad Ali Mosque
Cairo Citadel
Muhammad Ali Mosque, often called the Alabaster Mosque, dominates Cairo Citadel with a monumental Ottoman-style dome, twin 84-metre minarets and panoramic views over the city.
Historical Overview
Muhammad Ali Pasha built this mosque inside Cairo Citadel during the nineteenth century, completing it in 1848 on the site of earlier Mamluk palace structures. Its architecture follows an Ottoman imperial model, with a large square prayer hall covered by a central dome surrounded by semi-domes and smaller corner domes. The mosque is widely known as the Alabaster Mosque because of the extensive marble paneling used on its interior and exterior surfaces. Two slender minarets rise to about 84 metres and make the building one of Cairo’s most recognizable landmarks. The open courtyard contains a clock tower given to Muhammad Ali by King Louis Philippe of France. Muhammad Ali’s white-marble tomb stands inside the mosque. The monument is therefore both a major religious building and a symbol of the political transformation of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty.
Why Visit?
This is the visual centerpiece of Cairo Citadel and one of the best places to combine monumental Ottoman architecture, nineteenth-century Egyptian history and panoramic views of Cairo.
Media Gallery
Muhammad Ali Mosque at Cairo Citadel