Refaie Mosque
Egypt, History, 12/14/2000

This mosque lies past Sultan Hassan mosque, left of Saladin Citadel in Cairo. Princess Khoshiar, mother of Khedive Ismail, gave orders in 1869 AD (1286 H) to have that mosque built in that site.

She asked to have a grave yard be annexed to the mosque where Sheikh Refaie and Sheikh Ansary had been buried before. She wished to get herself and her descendents buried there as well. It happened that she died in 1885 AD and when her son Khedive Ismail died both were buried there.

Under the orders of Khedive Abbas II, Hertes Pasha the great architect completed the construction and the decoration of the mosque, which came finally into the present huge building in 1916 AD.

The mosque has three gates: the royal one amid of the western wall, and the two others at the southern part where two towers with two minarets stand high over them. The part set for praying is square-shaped covered with a prettily ornamented dome built over four marbled posts decorated with golden designs. Internally, Refaie mosque is most subtly decorated in a highly sublime way.

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