The Mosque of Ibn Tulun, built in Cairo from 876 to 879 for Ahmad ibn Tulun, is Cairo’s oldest surviving mosque in its original form.
Ahmad ibn Tulun founded the mosque in the new administrative settlement of al-Qata'i, which he established beside older parts of Cairo. Its immense rectangular enclosure includes a central open courtyard surrounded by arcades, creating a calm interior sequence of spaces.
The building is especially recognizable for its unusual spiral minaret, which rises outside the northern wall. The minaret’s external spiral staircase has often been compared with the famous minaret of Samarra, although the precise design relationship is discussed by historians. Stucco decoration and pointed arches add to the mosque’s distinctive character.
“Oldest surviving mosque in Cairo” can be misleading if it means the oldest mosque of any surviving fabric. The key qualification is that Ibn Tulun’s mosque retains its original architectural form more completely than Cairo’s older foundations, which were rebuilt or altered substantially.