The mosque of Sultan Hasan stands, together with the Al Rifai mosque, as you can see in the pictures, very close to the Citadel. It was built in the time of Sultan Hasan, who was reigning the country in the middle of the 14th century. It is enormous, probably one of the biggest in the world. In the main hall there a 70 chains hanging down from the immense high ceiling. Nowadays, at the end of them there are modern lamps, but some of the old lamps may still be found in the Cairo Islamic Museum. The Sultan, who started his reign when he was 13 years old and was murdered when he was 26, lies in a tomb inside the mosque. One of the minarets is, with over 80 meters, the highest in Cairo. It was used as a sort of fortress in battles over the centuries.
Separated by only the small pedestrian Al Qalaa street stands the Al Rifai mosque (the Royal Mosque). Al Qalaa means "citadel" and indeed from there you have an excellent view on the citadel and the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. The Al Rifai mosque is quite young, it was completed in 1912. It was built to complement the Sultan Hasan mosque. It stands on the place where the shrine used to be of the medieval saint Al Rifai and this shrine is inside the mosque now. King Fuad and his mother are buried in this mosque, as well as the last shah of Iran. The mosque was built in Mamluk style. Some say stomes from the Cheops pyramid were used.