Cairo’s Ibn Tulun Mosque is a must-see.

Ibn Tulun’s Mosque (open daily from 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.; admission is free) is a rare remnant of the classical Islamic era, which spanned the 9th and 10th centuries and during which the Abbasid caliphs dominated the Muslim world from their capital in Iraq.

It is possible that Ibn Tulun was inspired by the city’s congregational mosque, which was the focal point of the city’s purpose-built capital, Samarra, where the whole population gathered for Friday prayer. A “Zayada,” or enclosure, greets you as you approach the mosque.

To the left of the entrance is the Gayer-Anderson House, which serves as a buffer between the mosque and its surroundings.

It is only as you inside the mosque’s inner walls that the accurate scale of the structure becomes apparent: the courtyard is 92m square, and the whole complex is 140m by 122m in size.

Apart from its great enormity, the mosque is distinguished for its simplicity.

Ibn Tulun’s architects grasped the power of repetition while also understanding the need for restraint: little flower capitals and stucco rosettes seem to be the only ornamental features at first look. Underneath the arcades, you’ll discover a sycamore-wood frieze that’s more than 2 kilometers long and depicts about one-fifth of the Koran written in Kufic script.

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It was in the 13th century that the rigorously geometric ablutions fountain was constructed, which serves as an inventive focal point.

At this time, the mihrab was also embellished with marble and glass mosaics, which proved to be the lone misstep in the whole complex.

The outer spiral staircase of the minaret, which gives the edifice a helical form, distinguishes it from other structures.

Ibn Tulun is said to have twisted a piece of paper into a spiral and then excused his carelessness by presenting it as the design for a brief moment.

On the other hand, the magnificent minaret of Samarra seems to be a more likely source of inspiration.

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