Sultaniyya Mausoleum

The Sultaniyya Mausoleum is a Mamluk-era funerary complex located in the Southern Cemetery of the Qarafa (or City of the Dead), the necropolis of Cairo, Egypt.

Sultan an-Nasir Hasan'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).

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 Hasan's mother standing next to it.

[2][1] 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.

[2] Between the two domes and tomb chambers is a large iwan (vaulted hall open to one side), with an inscription running along its walls.

This form is very reminiscent of Timurid architecture in Samarkand (e.g. the Gur-e-Amir) but predates the latter by half a century, most likely indicating that it originated here first in Cairo[2] or that it was influenced by earlier Iranian domed structures which have since disappeared.

[6] Similar dome shapes appear at the Madrasa of Sarghitmish (also in Cairo), which was built around the same time, and possibly at the slightly earlier Khanqah of Amir Shaykhu.

View of the Sultaniyya Mausoleum (right) circa 1900. The northern dome and the top of the minaret have partially collapsed. (On the left is the mausoleum and minaret of Amir Qawsun .)
Northwest side of the main structure, with the central iwan visible
The northern dome. The drum (cylindrical section below) is carved with Square Kufic Arabic script.
Inside one of the tomb chambers
The minaret of the complex (2012 photo)