The Mosque of al-Salih Talai

'Facing the square in front of Bab Zuwayla, the Mosque of al-Salih Talai, built toward the end of the Fatimid period in 1160, is one of the most handsome in Cairo', according to Michael Haag in his book, Cairo, illustrated. From the outside it promised to be a magnificent building. Till this point, we were still lingering outside because this neighborhood was so interesting. We still see donkey carts hauling things and life has not changed in who knows how long. These shops around this area of Bab Zuwayla has been there for hundreds of years. Wow! Did we stumble on some incredible place? I have this blog to thank because it has forced me to go out of my comfort zone, to take lots more pictures and to see details I would otherwise have missed. Each time I see something, I think to myself, 'there's a story to tell here'. As I write this, it's been over 2 months since my trip but the memories are still vivid and I'm still amazed and enthralled.

There were incredible details on the outside.

Here the custodians of the mosque are beckoning us to come and visit. Usually it is free to visit mosques but they might charge a small fee for looking after your shoes. Sometimes the custodians charges a 'baksheesh' for showing you around and they have a habit of putting out their hands for more and more. You can say, 'that's enough' and they might show some displeasure but get use to it. It happens all over Egypt and I read in other blogs that this is annoying. It is annoying but just get use to it or you'll miss out on a lot of incredible experiences. We paid these guys a lot to get in here and we paid another guy a whole other bunch for him to show us the rooftops which we'll visit in the next posting. It was worth it, it is a very beautiful mosque and to have a Fatimid pedigree makes it more remarkable.

This was still the entrance and we spent a considerable time just examining the entrance.

The huge doors and the huge arch way is so spectacular. It showed a time of upheaval with the huge gateway of Bab Zuwayla just steps away on the outside, the Fatimids needed strong fortification. They were conquerors themselves and needed to prevent being conquered and becoming the vanquished. They were later replaced by the Mamluks.

This is the 'mihrab' and it faces Mecca.

This is the 'Minbar' and it consists of intricate woodwork.

We were told to take off our shoes but they didn't require us to cover our heads.

We can see the interesting life that goes on outside.

There are a lot more other mosques all over Islamic Cairo. We would visit 2 more after this.