23 Facts About Mamluk architecture

Mamluk architecture was the architectural style under the Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo.

However, Mamluk architecture is oftentimes categorized more by the reigns of major sultans, than a specific design.

End of the Ayyubid period and the start of the Mamluk architecture period were marked by creation of the first multi-purpose funerary complexes in Cairo.

Mamluk architecture was one of the most prolific patrons of architecture in Mamluk history.

Burji Mamluk architecture sultans followed the artistic traditions established by their Bahri predecessors.

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Mamluk architecture built or restored numerous monuments in Cairo, in addition to commissioning projects beyond Egypt.

Mamluk architecture's reign saw the peak of artistic quality in the decorative arts, such as the stone-carved decoration of domes.

Mamluk architecture is distinguished by the construction of multi-functional buildings whose floor plans became increasingly creative and complex due to the limited available space in the city and the desire to make monuments visually dominant in their urban surroundings.

One aspect of Mamluk architecture design was the intentional juxtaposition of the round dome, the vertical minaret, and the tall facade walls of the building, which architects placed in differing arrangements in order to maximize the visual impact of a building in its specific urban environment.

Glass mosaics, while present in early Mamluk architecture monuments, were discontinued in the late Bahri period.

Mamluk architecture minarets became very ornate and usually consisted of three tiers separated by balconies, with each tier having a different design than the others, a characteristic which was generally unique to Cairo.

Mamluk architecture domes transitioned over time from wooden or brick structures to stone masonry structures.

The peak of ornamental stone dome Mamluk architecture was achieved under the reign of Qaytbay in the late 15th century, as seen at his funerary complex in the Northern Cemetery.

Patrons of architecture during the Mamluk period included both the sultans themselves and their mamluk amirs.

Additionally, the provisions of the pious endowments served the role of providing a financial future for the sultan's family after his death, as the Mamluk architecture Sultanate was non-hereditary and the sultan's sons only rarely succeeded in taking the throne after his death, and rarely for long.

Mamluk architecture even sent craftsmen from Egypt in order to reproduce the architectural style of Cairo in these locations.

Citadel of Damascus, where the Mamluk architecture garrison had held out, was demolished during the events of the Mongol invasion in 1260, but the rest of the city fared better than Aleppo, which was severely damaged by the invasion.

Mamluk architecture commissioned the creation of a great palace in the city, the Qasr al-Ablaq, designed by the architect Ibrahim ibn Gana'im.

Mamluk architecture built a madrasa on the south side of this palace which still serves as a school today, preserving a finely-crafted muqarnas entrance portal.

Mamluk architecture built the Tankiziyya Madrasa on the western edge of the Haram al-Sharif.

About 35 monuments from the Mamluk architecture city have survived to the present day, including mosques, madrasas, khanqahs, hammams, and caravanserais, many of them built by local Mamluk architecture amirs.

Great Mosque of Tripoli; the arcades are Mamluk architecture but the minaret was an earlier Christian structure.

However, the only surviving Mamluk architecture structure is the Mosque of Sultan al-Ashraf Barsbay, dating to 1437.