1. Jordan University of Science and Technology
College of Architecture and Design
Department of Architecture
Islamic Architecture
Islamic Architecture
Dr. Raed Al Tal
2. Jordan University of Science and Technology
College of Architecture and Design
Department of Architecture
Islamic Architecture
Dr. Raed Al Tal
The Rise of the Ayyubids
and the Decline of the Abbasids
-Citadel of Cairo
-Citadel of Damascus
-Citadel of Aleppo
3. • 3amara 7arbiyye
• Segregation and exclusion
• Citadels are the most important
• Destructive power
• Two centers of force: Cairo and Syria
• Power force over military rank and social
level
• Strict military heirarchy
Citadels!!!
4. The entry of the Seljuks into Jerusalem in 1079 triggered a
spate of fighting throughout the Mediterranean.
The reaction of European Christians was to launch the
Crusades in 1095.
The first Crusade ended in 1099 with the recovery of
Jerusalem from the Muslims and the establishment of the
Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem which lasted until the fall of Acre
in 1291 to the Mamluk troops of al-Ashraf Khalil.
5. Before the end of the Fatimid dynasty in Cairo, the
Crusaders had occupied part of Egypt as a result of the
quarrels which erupted at that time over the succession to
the caliphate.
For a time the Franks even threatened Cairo. It was at this
point that Saladin (Salah al-Din, 1171-1193) appeared on
the scene.
He united that territory with Syria in order to form a
powerful kingdom to defeat the Franks in the Holy Land.
Thanks to Saladin, the Islamic troops were able to defeat
the Crusaders at Hattin and enter Jerusalem in 1187.
6. Military Nature of Ruling Class:
Strict military hierarchy, which represented the only path to
political power.
Fortress mentality initially caused by the linguistic and ethnic
differences and ultimately embedded in a system that stressed
exclusion and segregation as means of control.
7. New Trends in Architecture
The ups and downs of the eleventh and twelfth centuries had
two main causes.
One was the-mix of populations caused by the arrival of Turks
from central Asia, with customs which they had inherited from
Persia. Diverse identity
The other was the Sunni renewal, brought about by these
new converts who were strenuously opposed to the Alids.
Citadels influence from Crusades and Byzantine
8. Citadels
Influence of preexisting examples or contemporary Byzantine and
Crusaders citadels
Adaptation by necessity, and almost independent evolution
The Crusaders Citadels: The Krak des Chevaliers, Syria (12-13th c.)
10. • Location on sharp cliff to eliminate military
movement – natural defensive
• Self defensible structure
• Surrounded by moat filled with water
• Glacise = inclined smooth stone
• Multi layered
• Many portals
12. The Development of Military Architecture
Badr al-Gamali had, in 1087, provided Cairo with a strong,
defensive stone wall
This means it became a military city
the invasion of the Seljuks and then the Crusaders caused
intense architectural activity in the area of defensive
constructions designed to resist sieges.
13. The Citadel of Cairo:
Between Cairo and Fustat
Built by Salah al-Din, it became the seat of the sultanate under the
later Ayyubids and the Mamluks,
and remained the center of government well into the 19th century.
It was reorganized and enlarged several times in the 13th-14th
century.
14. begun by Saladin in 1176, to the south of Cairo at the foot of the
Muqattam Hills.
the fortress stood outside the centers of Fustat and Cairo, on a
steeply sloping site dominating the residential areas.
It was divided into two parts , each having its own walls:
the castle, where the garrison was stationed;
and the palace, where the sultan lived.
15. Maydan was near the castle
In the western part, a second adjacent wall probably enclosed the
palace, of which only a few vestiges remain. A huge open area,
measuring 600 by 100 meters - called maydan in Persian - was the
site for official parades and exercises of the sultan's troops, and for
games of polo.
23. The Citadel of Damascus
In 1206 a wall was built around the old city of Damascus by
Saladin's brother.
This was a rectangular enclosure with an east-west orientation,
like the temenos on which the Great Mosque of the Umayyads
had been built nearby.
The walls to the north run adjacent to the Barada River, which
acts as a moat.
The enclosure, around 240 meters long, is punctuated by
twelve rectangular towers
24. • Rectangular going east west
• Built in old Damascus
• Edge of natural element – Barada river
• Length 240 m.
• Rusticated rough stone
• Bulky
• Solid structure
25.
26.
27.
28. The citadel of Aleppo
The same techniques were used to build the citadel of Aleppo
as that of Damascus - but they were taken to a much higher
level.
Built on a rise of ground in the shape of a abridged cone,
worked by man to form a very steep, paved glacis,
On hilly mountain that is man made
Dominating city scape
2 portals
Moat
Portal one: narrow bridge
Portal two: main part in castle
29. It was constructed by the Ayyubid Zahir al-Ghazi, son of
Saladin, at the end of the twelfth century (and completed
in 1209).
Later, in 1258, the citadel of Aleppo was destroyed by the
Mongols, and then rebuilt in 1292.
Destroyed once again, this time by Tamerlane (Timur i
Leng),
it was restored in the sixteenth century by the Ottomans.
The Palace of al-Malik al-‘Aziz (ca. 1230) took its location in the
same site .
30. The Citadel is located on a partly man-made hill, about 50 meters above the city.
31. To cross the wide surrounding ditch and climb the steep glacis, the architects
devised an inclined bridge, supported by seven tall, narrow arches.
37. Madrasa al-Firdaus in Aleppo.
It was built in 1235-36
It is the largest and best known of the Ayyubid madrasas in
Aleppo
Its patron was Dayfa Khatun, the wife of the Ayyubid governor
of Aleppo, al-Zahir Ghazi.
She was one of the most prominent architectural patrons in
Syrian history; she established large endowments for the
maintenance and operation of her charitable foundations.
Due to its location outside the city walls, the madrasa was
developed as a freestanding structure
38. The madrasa
The madrasa made use of two forms typical of Persian
architecture: the Iwan - a large covered area with a mainly
open facade - usually constructed at the edge of a
courtyard; and stalactite decorations, or muqarnas,
covering vaults and cupolas.
39. Detail of a capital decorated with rows of honeycomb-shaped carvings forming
stalactites (muqarnas) in the courtyard of the Madrasa al-Firdaus in Aleppo.
Beehive decoration became widespread in the thirteenth century Islamic world.
40. Muqarnas decoration
( stalactite )
• Rows of honeycomb-shaped
carvings.
• Squinches and pendentives
developed to become the
muqarnas.
• Beehive decoration became
widespread in the thirteenth
century Islamic world.
41. The main entrance is typical of
Ayyubid architecture, with its
elongated and narrow
proportions and three-tiered
muqarnas vault
42. Iwan
The madrasa has a large iwan, or classroom, is across the
courtyard from the prayer hall.
Its walls are carved with three niches used for book storage.
This iwan is backed by a larger iwan that faces north.
Though this iwan currently faces a wall due to the dense
urban growth around al-Firdaws, it is believed to have been
originally open to a walled garden and a large poo
43. Mosque
The southern chamber of the madrasa is used as a mosque
The structure has two domes on the corner bays.
All the domes were built alike, except for the mihrab dome, which
has an elaborate muqarnas base and twelve small openings.
The mihrab is made of veined white marble, red porphyry and
green diorite. Its niche is composed of granite columns with
muqarnas capitals
44. In front of the Iwan, with its slightly pointed vault leading to the ablutions fountain, the
porticoes of the Madrasa al-Firdaus surround a paved courtyard decorated with
geometric motifs.
