page_title: Sultaniyya Mausoleum
section_title: Historical background
hierarchical_section_title: Sultaniyya Mausoleum / Historical background
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial view of a large domed building
context_page_description: The Sultaniyya Mausoleum is a Mamluk-era funerary complex located in the Southern Cemetery of the Qarafa, the necropolis of Cairo, Egypt. It is believed to have been built in the 1350s and dedicated to the mother of Sultan Hassan. It is notable for its unique pair of stone domes.
context_section_description: Sultan an-Nasir Hassan's mother died when he was still a child, and he was instead raised by a stepmother (named by Maqrizi as either Ardu or Tughay). Little is known about the mausoleum or Sultan Hassan's mother, as no original waqf documents for this building have survived. The building was instead identified indirectly with the help of the waqf document of the nearby Mosque of Nur al-Din, built by the Ottoman governor Masih Pasha in 1575, which mentions a mausoleum belonging to Sultan Hassan's mother standing next to it. Additionally, the bold architectural forms of the structure and the fact that the domes are made of stone (rather than brick or wood), suggests that the building was issued from royal patronage. Based on this information, it is believed to have been built by Sultan Hassan during his reign around the 1350s. The name sultaniyya means "sultanic" or "royal", and may have been a popular name given to the structure.
  The cemetery in which the mausoleum is located was originally a cemetery founded by the Bahri Mamluks in 1290, on land near the Citadel that was formerly used for military training exercises (next to this was also a Mamluk hippodrome which existed for centuries). The mausoleum and khanqah of Amir Qawsun, which was built in 1335, also stands very close by and possessed a similar layout as the Sultaniyya.
  A part of the Sultaniyya complex, including its courtyard, has disappeared, and its current remains were restored in modern times.
caption: View of the mausoleum and the cemetery (al-Qarafa) around it at the beginning of the 20th century. Much of the northern dome is missing. Other Mamluk structures are visible, including the ruined mausoleum of Qawsun (dome on the left and minaret on the right).
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