Grand opening after restoration of the ancient mosque of Al-Zahir Baybars in Cairo (June 4, 2023)
Grand re-inauguration of the Al-Zahir Baybars Mosque in Cairo
During the official visit on March 11-14, 2007 of the first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to Egypt and Syria, an Agreement was signed on restoring the Al-Zahir Beybars Mosque in Cairo. Following the visit the due restoration works began. The official re-inauguration of the Mosque took place on June 4, 2023, at a ceremony attended by the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan H.E. Mr. Maulen Ashimbaev, and the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Egypt H.E. Mr. Abdel Wahab Abdel Razek, as well as other officials of the two countries.
The mosque building is considered an architectural masterpiece of Cairo. It is Egypt's third largest spiritual building after the Ahmad ibn Tulun Mosque and the Al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah Mosque.
It was founded by the Mamluk Al-Zahir Beybars al-Bunduqdari (reign: 1260-1277) from 1266 to 1268 and continued to fulfill its spiritual mission for 550 years. During the occupation of Egypt by Napoleon in 1798-1801, the French turned the mosque into a supporting fortress, and made the minaret a defensive tower, installing cannons on its walls. During the reign of the Ottomans, in particular, the governor of the Turkish Sultan in Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha (1805-1848), the mosque turned into a soap factory, then into a soldiers' bakery. During the British occupation, the site was used as an army depot and later as a slaughterhouse. Subsequently, this structure remained destroyed and abandoned.
The restoration of the mosque was carried out by one of the leading Egyptian companies in the Middle East, the Arab Contractors Company. For his active contribution to the restoration of the historical building, the head of the company Sayed Farouk, was granted the state award of the Republic of Kazakhstan - the medal “Shapagat”. The first stage of capital work, which began in 2007, included strengthening the foundation of the mosque, cementing the walls and dome, stabilizing the groundwater level, and installing marble columns. However, the political and economic crisis that hit Egypt in 2011 did not allow all the work to be completed on time. The next stage of work resumed in October 2018, during which the dome, premises, and minarets, as well as the marble flooring, fire extinguishing system, internal lighting fixtures, etc., were restored. At the last stage, its decoration was restored and the minbar (pulpit) was recreated. Specialized panoramic lighting was installed on the facades and gates of the mosque to display all the architectural details of the building. During the restoration, ancient drawings on the stones of the facade of the mosque were preserved, and the internal plaster strips with verses of the Quran on the Qibla wall were also restored. Technical control of the project is carried out by a specially created commission, which includes authoritative archaeologists and restorers from Egypt.
Today the building has acquired its characteristic appearance, consistent with Mamluk architecture. This is a square-shaped structure with a hypostyle interior (having a flat roof supported by columns), with an area of more than 10 thousand square meters and a wall height of 12 meters. Consists of an open central courtyard surrounded by riwaqs (arcades), the largest of which is the qibla riwaq, the arches of which were supported by marble columns, except for those facing the courtyard. The mosque has three projecting entrances, the largest of which is on the western wall.
According to Kazakh experts, this object has high symbolic significance in the historical and cultural heritage of the Kazakh people.