21 Facts About Fatimid architecture

Fatimid architecture that developed in the Fatimid Caliphate of North Africa combined elements of eastern and western architecture, drawing on Abbasid architecture, Byzantine, Ancient Egyptian, Coptic architecture and North African traditions; it bridged early Islamic styles and the medieval architecture of the Mamluks of Egypt, introducing many innovations.

The heartland of architectural activity and expression during Fatimid architecture rule was at al-Qahira, the old city of Cairo, on the eastern side of the Nile, where many of the palaces, mosques and other buildings were built.

Al-Aziz Billah is generally considered to have been the most extensive of Fatimid architecture builders, credited with at least thirteen major landmarks including the completion of the Great Palaces, the Cairo Mosque, a fortress, a belvedere, a bridge and public baths.

Fatimid architecture caliphs competed with the rulers of the Abbasid and Byzantine empires, and indulged in luxurious palace building.

Notable extant examples of Fatimid architecture include the Great Mosque of Mahdiya, and the Al-Azhar Mosque, Al-Hakim Mosque, Juyushi and Lulua of Cairo.

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Fatimid architecture Caliphate originated in an Ismaili Shia movement launched in Salamiyah, on the western edge of the Syrian Desert, by Abd Allah al-Akbar, a claimed eight generation descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, through Muhammad's daughter Fatimah.

Fatimid architecture fled from his enemies to Sijilmasa in Morocco, under the guise of being a merchant.

Fatimid architecture was supported by a militant named Abu Abd Allah al-Shi'i, who organized a Berber uprising that overthrew the Tunisian Aghlabid dynasty, and then invited al-Mahdi to assume the position of imam and caliph.

Fatimid architecture's ordered a well to be built in the courtyard of Ibn Tulun Mosque in 995, a pavilion overlooking the Nile called Manazil al-izz, and her own mausoleum in Qarafa.

Fatimid architecture built many of the gates and fortifications in Cairo.

Fatimid architecture drew together decorative and architectural elements from the east and west, and spanned from the early Islamic period to the Middle Ages, making it difficult to categorize.

The architecture that developed as an indigenous form under the Fatimids incorporated elements from Samarra, the seat of the Abbasids, as well as Coptic and Byzantine features.

Thus many of the works of Fatimid architecture reflect architectural details imported from Northern Syria and Mesopotamia, probably in part due to the fact that they often employed architects from these places to construct their buildings.

The heartland of architectural activity and expression during Fatimid architecture rule was at al-Qahira, on the outskirts of Cairo on the eastern side of the Nile, where many of the palaces, mosques and other buildings were built.

Mashad is a characteristic type of Fatimid architecture building, a shrine that commemorates a descendant of Muhammad.

Plan and decoration of Fatimid architecture mosques reflect Shiite doctrine and that the mosques were often used for royal ceremonial purposes.

The characteristic architectural styles of Fatimid architecture mosques include portals that protrude from the wall, domes above mihrabs and qiblas, porches and arcades with keel-shaped arches supported by a series of columns, facade ornamentation with iconographic inscriptions and stucco decorations.

The Fatimid architecture architects built modified versions of Coptic keel-arched niches with radiating fluted hoods, and later extended the concept to fluted domes.

Use of semi-circular and horizontal arches, and lack of pointed arches, represented a departure from normal Fatimid architecture, probably taken from Syrian examples, and were never widely used during the Fatimid period.

Fatimid architecture buildings have gone through many renovations and restructurings in different styles from the early Mamluk period to modern times.

All but one of the Fatimid architecture minarets were destroyed by an earthquake in 1303, and later rebuilt by the Mamluks, but replicas of these minarets are used in Neo-Fatimid architecture mosques.