Islamic heritage · Cairo
Juyushi Mosque
A late 11th-century Fatimid mosque on the Muqattam hills overlooking Cairo's Southern Cemetery, known as the Mosque of the Armies.
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The story
The mosque dates from the late 11th century, in the reign of the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir Billah. Its construction was sponsored by his vizier Badr al-Jamali, who held the title Amir al-Juyush, Commander of the Armies, which gave the mosque its name. It stands on the Muqattam hills above the Southern Cemetery of Cairo. Arabic sources describe it as one of the first mosques in Cairo built of stone, with a minaret among the oldest surviving Fatimid minarets in Egypt.
Good to know
- It was sponsored by the vizier Badr al-Jamali, titled Amir al-Juyush, under Caliph al-Mustansir Billah.
- Its minaret is counted among the oldest surviving Fatimid minarets in Egypt.