The Al-Moayyad Sheikh Mosque, with its two minarets built on top of Bab Zuweila, is functioning again. Nevine El-Aref was present at the reopening In the year 1417 a ceremony was held to mark the opening of the Al-Moayyad Sheikh Mosque in Al-Muezz Street. This event, so splendid that it has passed down in legend, was replayed last Sunday evening when the Ministry of Culture celebrated the completion of the mosque's seven-year restoration. The honey-coloured mosque and mausoleum of Al-Moayyad Sheikh stands on the left hand side as one passes through the newly- restored gate of Bab Zuweila, one of the three Fatimid gates leading to the Khan Al-Khalili, or bazaar section, of Cairo. After its long restoration, the mosque is now ready to receive worshippers and visitors. This edifice is a great example of Mamluke architecture. It has four façades. The main gate, a huge wooden door inlaid with copper, leads to a small vestibule opening on to the mausoleum where Sheikh Al-Moayyad and his eldest son are buried. A short corridor leads to the mosque's open court with its four colonnaded Iwans. The largest of these, the Iwan Al-Qibla, has a wooden ceiling decorated with gilded foliage. The mosque's two soaring minarets were actually constructed on the fabric of Bab Zuweila. On the day of the reopening, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, along with scores of other Egyptian ministries and top government officials, watched a 15-minute documentary film narrating in depth the various restoration stages of the mosque -- which cost the Ministry of Culture LE14 million. The dignitaries were then taken in a tour of the several sections of the building. During the tour Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told them about the objects and structures found in the building while the restoration work was going on. The Moayyad Sheikh Mosque, which is considered to be among the seven most splendid mosques in Cairo, was originally built by the Mamluke Sultan Al-Moayyad Sheikh. This sheikh had been held by Sultan Farag Ibn Barquq in a prison on this site. While in prison, Al-Moayyad Sheikh pledged to God that if he were ever released and came to a position of power he would transform the prison into a mosque. When this came to be Al-Moayyad paid 40,000 dinars for its construction, but in 1665 the mosque was severely damaged when Egypt's Wali Omar Pasha fired 12 cannons into the building in order to attack some rebels who were hiding inside. As a result, three of the four Iwans collapsed, along with a large part of the ceiling and colonnades. Omar Pasha promised to repair the damage, but he never did. Several restoration attempts were carried out during the 19th and 20th centuries, among them one by French architect Pascal Coste who drew a complete plan of the mosque. However the lack of financial backing stood in the way of fulfillment. As time went by the mosque lost more of its original features, eventually becoming an eyesore and a dump for debris from the 1992 earthquake. "Restoring Al-Moayyad Sheikh Mosque really was a challenge," says Ayman Abdel-Moneim, head of the Historic Cairo Development and Restoration Project, who says the mosque remained under threat until the implementation of the Historic Cairo Development Programme. "On the first day of restoration the mosque was in a very critical condition," says Abdel-Moneim. He says the walls and the dome of the monument were cracked, masonry was damaged and the condition of the ceiling was critical. The ceiling decorations had almost totally deteriorated through the leakage of rain water, and it was heavily stained with smoke and cobwebs while most of the flooring was broken. After extensive studies, restorers decided at first to strengthen the mosque's foundations and protect them from future damage. This was achieved using the "micro-pile system" which, Abdel-Moneim says, was the installation of sharp, pointed columns beneath Al-Moayyad's archaeological complex to reinforce its foundations. The walls were reinforced, missing and decayed stones were replaced, and masonry cleaned and desalinated. The mosque now stands as proudly as it did in the past. On the south side of the open-court are displayed the newly discovered parts of Cairo's southern area. A deep water well was also found beneath Iwan Al-Qibla, which suggests that the complex once possessed a sabil.
