Madrasa al-Amir Taghri Bardi
Cairo, Egypt

The madrasa complex of Amir Taghribardi was built in 1440; it belongs to the the four-iwan type. It is the earliest example of a religious structure in which the interior forms a wide angle (almost 45°) with the street facade. In order to adjust the extreme divergence, the architect introduced small recesses in the space between the diverging walls instead of filling it with solid masonry.


The brick dome displays the earliest example of interlaced high-relief moldings decorating the exterior surface of a dome. The minaret is composed of a square first story surmounted by a circular one with a star-shaped pattern carved in stone.


Sources:


Jarrar, Sabri, András Riedlmayer, and Jeffrey B. Spurr. Resources for the Study of Islamic Architecture. Cambridge, MA: Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1994.


Kessler, Christel. "Funerary Architecture within the City." In Colloque international sur l'histoire du Caire, 385-403. Cairo: Ministry of Culture of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 1969.


Meinecke, Michael. Die Mamlukische Architektur in Ägypten und Syrien (648/1250 bis 923/1517). Glückstadt: Verlag J. J. Augustin, 1992.


Williams, John. "Urbanization and Monument Construction in Mamluk Cairo." Muqarnas 2 (1984): 33- 45.

Location
Shari' al-Saliba, Cairo, Egypt
Images & Videos
Associated Names
Events
1440/843-844 AH
Style Periods
1250-1517
Variant Names
Amir Taghri Bardi Madrasa
Variant
Madrasat al-Amir Taghri Bardi
Variant
Building Usages
funerary
educational