Sultan Muayyad Maristan
1418-1420 AD / EGYPT
The historian Maqrizi witnessed the construction of the maristan between July 1418 and August 1420. Coinciding with the outbreak of the plague in 1419, the Sultan Muayyad Maristan never went into service: the Sultan died of an illness in 1421 and the maristan was used briefly as a guesthouse by foreign dignitaries and then turned into a mosque by the subsequent Sultan Ashraf Barsbay in March 1422. Apparently, the waqf (religious endowment) was not clarified as well as the Qalawun Maristan which remained in operation into modern times, so the Muayyad Maristan never really served its original purposed and is now (spring 2024) largely a construction site in the back while parts of the building have been renovated, including the impressive façade.
Historical Perspective
“Although the hospital of Qalawun was still functioning at the time, Sultan al-Mu'ayyad decided to build one of his own. It was built on the site of a former mosque, near the Citadel. It was used only a short time, however, and after the sultan died, the building was used by foreign residents and was later turned into a residence for ambassadors visiting Egypt. Still later, it was transformed into a Friday mosque. As it was originally built on the site of a mosque, the cruciform construction was already oriented toward Mecca, so it needed only a new prayer niche.
Although now in ruins, the building has preserved its splendid façade, one of the finest in Cairo. It is quite symmetrical, the middle part enhanced by the pishtaq with a pointed arch above the recess of the stalactite portal. Along the facade, running horizontally and vertically, is a carved molding in high relief in a pattern resembling a chain, the only such decoration in Cairo.”
Maristan Façade
This magnificent frontal façade is representative of the magnitude of Mamluke architecture. “The entrance is set within a monumental recessed portal crowned by a vault or canopy of muqarnas (stalactite-like carvings) within a rectangular frame that projects higher than the rest of the building. The overall façade makes use of ablaq masonry (alternating dark red and light stone), but more elaborate ablaq patterns appear above the doorway. On both lateral (side) walls of the portal are two “roundels” of differing floral and geometric compositions created using red stone. Outside the portal, two even larger roundel patterns of this kind appear above the windows on either side of the portal. Between these and the portal are keel-shaped niches (originating from Fatimid architecture) with radiating red and light stone, below which are inscriptions in Arabic (in either thuluth or naskhi forms), formed with red paste or stone, which together appear to form the shahada. Further below these inscriptions are panels of “square” Kufic script, formed with inlaid lapis lazuli blue tiles. One unusual detail is also found above the doorway: here, set along the middle of a double window, are two small decorative columns with carved snakes wrapping around them, which could be a symbol of healing.” Source: Wikepedia.
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Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Islamic Architecture in Cairo, An Introduction. Cairo: American University Press, 1989, p. 140.
