Al-Azhar Mosque

The Fatimid mosque that grew into the oldest continuously running university in the Islamic world.

Founded in 970 by the Fatimid general Jawhar al-Siqilli as the congregational mosque of the new city of Cairo, Al-Azhar soon became a center of learning and gave rise to Al-Azhar University. Successive dynasties added minarets, gates, and courts, layering Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman work into one living monument of scholarship.