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Neo-Mamluk architecture was an architectural style popular in Egypt from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. It combined the principles of modern European architecture at the time with stylistic elements of historic Mamluk architecture in Egypt. The style was used for many government buildings, mosques, and residential architecture built in this era.

Historical background

The idea of a neo-Mamluk construction style was contemplated in the early 19th century by Pascal Coste, the French architect who served as chief engineer for Muhammad Ali, the new ruler of Egypt. Coste thought it would be an appropriate "national style" for Egypt and proposed a neo-Mamluk design for the new Muhammad Ali Mosque in the Citadel of Cairo, but he left his position in 1830 and the mosque was instead completed by another architect in an Ottoman style with European influences.

A new Mamluk revival style eventually came into vogue in the late 19th century and was mainly prominent between 1870 and 1930. This coincided with a period of major political and social changes in Egypt, including the imposition of British rule from 1882 onward. Several factors led to its emergence. It was likely, in part, a reaction to centuries of Ottoman control and to the rise of European influence in Egypt at the time. It was also an indirect expression of the beginnings of modern Egyptian nationalism, spurred by the political developments of the 19th century during which Muhammad Ali and his dynastic successors sought to establish Egypt's de facto independence from the Ottoman Empire. Muhammad Ali had previously made efforts to break away from Egypt's Mamluk past and consciously chose to emulate Ottoman architecture – both from its classical period and in its more recent Baroque period – over Mamluk architecture for his construction projects (like his mosque in the Citadel). However, his later successors, who pushed Egyptian independence further, moved away from the Ottoman style. The Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517) was a period of political dominance and prosperity in the history of Egypt and the surrounding region, thus its architectural style was a logical choice for revival in this context.

Another factor was the awareness, by both local Egyptians and new European settlers alike, that the traditional Mamluk style of building and the craftsmanship associated with it were disappearing and thus in need of preservation. Europeans of the era were also interested in historicist styles in art and architecture, including neo-Pharaonic and Islamic (Orientalist); accordingly, the new European arrivals found inspiration in the large number of medieval Islamic (Mamluk) buildings still standing in Cairo and the rest of Egypt. This trend was helped in turn by the creation of the Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe (typically referred to as the Comité), a body which spearheaded the documentation, conservation, and restoration of Egypt's Islamic-era heritage, further enabling a revival of the Mamluk style.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, a "Neo-Mamluk" style was also used in Egypt, which emulated the forms and motifs of Mamluk architecture but adapted them to modern architecture. Patrons and governments favoured it partly as a nationalist response against Ottoman and European styles and a concordant effort to promote local "Egyptian" styles (though the architects were sometimes Europeans).

Characteristics and major examples

The neo-Mamluk style blended modern western European architectural ideas with elements of historical Mamluk architecture. For the most part, the Mamluk elements were limited to decoration and occasionally to some aspects of interior design, while the general designs were still strongly inspired by European architectural principles.

One of the most important monuments of this style is al-Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo. It was commissioned in 1869 and begun by the Egyptian architect Husayn Fahmi Pasha. Its construction was interrupted between 1880 and 1905, when it restarted under the direction of Hungarian-Austrian architect Max Herz (also the head of the Comité at the time) and was finally completed in 1912. Other examples include:

• The Sayyida 'Aisha Mosque in Cairo (originally called the Awlad 'Inan Mosque prior to its relocation in 1979), built from 1894 to 1896.
• The Riwaq al-'Abbasi, an annex to the al-Azhar Mosque built between 1894 and 1898.
• The Sayyida Nafisa Mosque in Cairo, remodeled in this style in 1895.
• The new building for the ministry in charge of religious endowments (awqaf), constructed from 1896 to 1898.
• The Cairo Railway Station (now Ramses Station), first opened in 1856 but remodeled in the early 20th century in a neo-Mamluk style by Husayn Fahmi Pasha.
• Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque in Alexandria (1929–1945) by Italian architects Eugenio Valziana and Mario Rossi, whose exterior is designed in a neo-Mamluk style, with inspiration from the late Mamluk period in particular.

Many apartment buildings and residences built this era also incorporated neo-Mamluk elements in their façades, especially in the new or emerging suburbs of Cairo such as Shubra, Abbasia, Garden City, and Heliopolis.

References

Citations

1. AlSayyad, Nezar (2013). Cairo: Histories of a City. Harvard University Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-674-07245-9.
2. Raymond, André (2000). Cairo. Harvard University Press. pp. 304–306. ISBN 978-0-674-00316-3.
3. ^ Sung, Il Kwang (2017). Mamluks in the Modern Egyptian Mind: Changing the Memory of the Mamluks, 1919-1952. Palgrave MAcmillan. pp. 153–155. ISBN 978-1-137-54830-6.
4. Williams 2018, p. 35.
5. ^ Avcıoğlu, Nebahat; Volait, Mercedes (2017). ""Jeux de miroir": Architecture of Istanbul and Cairo from Empire to Modernism". In Necipoğlu, Gülru; Barry Flood, Finbarr (eds.). A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture. Wiley Blackwell. pp. 1140–1142. ISBN 9781119068570.
6. ^ Sanders, Paula (2008). Creating Medieval Cairo: Empire, Religion, and Architectural Preservation in Nineteenth-century Egypt. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 39–41. ISBN 9789774160950.
7. "Neo-Mamluk Style Beyond Egypt". Rawi Magazine. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
8. Shalakany, Amr (2001). "Sanhuri, the historical origins of comparative law in the Arab World". In Riles, Annelise (ed.). Rethinking the Masters of Comparative Law. Hart Publishing. pp. 183–184. ISBN 978-1-84113-289-1.
9. O'Kane, Bernard (2016). The Mosques of Egypt. American University of Cairo Press. pp. 317–319. ISBN 9789774167324.

Sources

• Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774168550.

• Mamluk architecture
• Architecture in Egypt
• Revivalism (architecture)