Caliph Al-Hakim is one of the most fascinating rulers of Egypt. This Fatimid leader was renowned for his terrifying rule over the land, which included frequent murders of his royal household staff; nightly patrols of the streets of his city, dressed incognito on a donkey to make sure his subjects were behaving themselves; and issuing bizarre rulings across the country (such as banning the eating of the Egyptian mallow-leaf, called molokheya, because only he wanted to be able to consume it).
His mosque, finished in AD 1013, has functioned over the centuries as a madrassa, Crusader fortress, and mental hospital and was completely restored in the 1980s. The minarets here are the most interesting architectural elements. They were originally round, and their present square casing and domed top sections (resembling an Arab incense burner) date from their rebuilding after Cairo’s 1303 earthquake.
The mosque sits in between two of the old city district’s most important gates. Bab el-Futuh (Gate of Conquests) on the mosque’s western side and Bab el-Nasr (Gate of Victory) to the east are similar in form to ancient Roman town gates and were both built in 1087.
You can walk between Al-Azhar Mosque and the Mosque of Al-Hakim by following Al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah Street all the way north.
