Al-Darb Al-Ahmar · EG

Aqsunqur Mosque

Tucked into the Mamluk quarter of al-Darb al-Ahmar between Bab Zuweila and the Citadel, the Aqsunqur Mosque is one of Cairo's best-kept treasures—and the city's true "Blue Mosque." Begun in 1346-47 by the emir Shams al-Din Aqsunqur, a son-in-law of the great sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, the building layers three eras of patronage into a single, beautifully irregular plan, capped in the 17th century by the dazzling blue-and-green Iznik tiles that give it its nickname. What makes it special for a visitor is the contrast: a plain, fortress-like medieval shell on a busy old street, opened onto a cool arcaded courtyard and, in the prayer hall, a wall of cobalt tiles that feels almost out of place in the Egyptian sun—hence the well-earned comparison to Istanbul. It is an active mosque, restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the World Monuments Fund and reopened to the public in 2015.