Alexandria: A History and a GuideForster, E. M. (Edward Morgan)
History
Alexandria: A History and a Guide
Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan)
Alexandria (Egypt) -- Guidebooks; Alexandria (Egypt) -- History
_Chorbagi Mosque_, in the Rue el Midan. Well worth a visit.
Date—1757. Plan—similar to the Terbana (_see_ below). Exterior
spoilt by restoration, but the door from the vestibule into the
mosque proper has over it a trefoil arch full of brilliant tiles; in
the centre of the arch is a miniature praying niche (mihrab).—The
Interior, though mean architecturally, retains its magnificent Tile
Decoration almost intact. The tiles are grouped round the walls in
great panels, the design being sometimes geometrical and sometimes a
pot of flowers. Between the panels are bands of contrasting tiles.
Colours:—in the panels, yellow, green, and a deep cornflower-blue
predominate; in the bands, china-blue and white. A few of the panels
are of polished conglomerate stone. The Prayer Niche—flanked by two
bizarre twisted columns—has the pot of flowers design. The door of
the pulpit is handsome; it has duplicated Cufic inscriptions, which
on the right read from right to left, as is usual, and on the left
are reversed for the sake of symmetry: a good instance of the
decorative tendency of Arab Art. Externally the Mosque is flanked by
arcades; one overlooks the street and is used by the Muezzin, since
there is no minaret; the other looks into a courtyard of stilted
arches.
_Mosque of Abou Ali._ (Go nearly to the end of the long Rue Bab el
Akdar; thence, right, into Rue Masguid Ali Bey Guenenah; thence,
right again). There is nothing to see in this humble little Mosque,
but it is said to be the oldest in the city. In it are the figures
677, which, if they record the date A.H., would mean 1278 A.D. The
natives say that it once stood at the edge of the sea, so that the
faithful made their ablutions with salt water before praying. The
tradition may be correct, for the old line of the coast lay here.
(_see_ map p. 98). The building in its present appearance cannot be
earlier than the 18th cent.; in it, perched on the summit of the
pulpit, is the model of a boat.
Continuing from the Rue de France we see ahead the white mass of the
_Terbana Mosque_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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