[1] The palace was built between 1330 and 1337 for amir Qawsun (full name: Sayf ad-Din Qawsun ibn Abdullah an-Nasiri as-Saqi) just north-west of Cairo's Citadel, in an area outside the main walled city which was developed during the prosperous reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad.

[5] The original entrance, from Qawsun's time, is a tall portal crowned with a hood of muqarnas sculpting and stone-carved patterns in ablaq (two-coloured) masonry.

[1] In the late 15th century, Yashbak added to the portal by extending it with projecting walls on either side,[citation needed] with the space between these covered by an even more elaborate dome-like vault of stone muqarnas.

Other decorative details include multi-coloured mosaics around the doorway and a large stone inscription running along the walls at eye level.

[5] This hall was covered by a wooden roof that probably also featured a lantern and whose scale must have required significant technical mastery.