Fatimid Architecture

Fatimid architecture was the building tradition of the Fatimid Caliphate, which ruled North Africa and later Egypt from 909 to 1171. It combined Abbasid, Byzantine, ancient Egyptian and Coptic influences, and its main centers of construction were Mahdia, al-Mansuriya and, after 973, Cairo, which became the heartland of Fatimid building activity, especially under the rulers al-Muizz, al-Aziz Billah and al-Hakim. Surviving examples include the Great Mosque of Mahdia and the Al-Azhar, Al-Hakim, Juyushi and Lulua mosques of Cairo. The style is understood as a bridge between earlier Islamic building and the later medieval architecture of the Mamluks.