The Qalawun complex in Cairo, Egypt includes a madrasa, a hospital and a mausoleum. It was built by the Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun in the 1280s. The complex is the earliest example of a new Syrian style of those times, and displays typical Mameluke architecture. The Mausoleum is one of the most spectacular in Cairo, huge, breathtaking and ornate, notice the 4 massive granite pillars, which were originally part of a pharaonic structure. The mausoleum’s central, domed plan is connected to the madrasa by a long entrance passage, and the plan of both spaces is shifted to accommodate the qibla orientation.
credit: Jorge Lascar