Aqsunqur Mosque Cairo

The first thing about this mosque I asked myself about was the name -- why blue mosque? Once I entered, though, I found out why. Aqsunqur Mosque or Blue Mosque was built in the early Mamluk Period in 1374 AD by the hand of Ibrahim Agha in the middle of Old Cairo, or what we can call now Bab El-Wazir street.

The blue mosque took on this name for its beautiful Qashani walls, a form of geometric decorative art. These blue wall styles were first popular in Iran, then Turkey then Egypt. All the walls in the Qibla direction are decorated with this beautiful artstyle.

The lovely thing I found in this mosque, besides the extraordinary decoration, is the open area in the middle, where I can sit on the ground and see the whole mosque from a central point of view.