Sabil and Kuttab of Khesro Pasha 942 AH/
1535 AD
Introduction
Cairo
has many unique Islamic structures that reflects the greatness of Islamic
architecture. Among these structures are sabils (water dispensaries) which were
used to store freshwater and dispense it to passersby. The Sabil is a charity building
that was known in all religions. Sultans, rulers, and rich people competed to
build it as a kind of charity. Sabils had different shapes and sizes.
Cairo had
a large share as sabils spread in the populated area in the city, markets, commercial and industrial districts like El-Mo'ez Street,
El-Saliba Street, El-Gammalia district, El- Ghouria district, El-Sayeda Zeinab
district, and others. Sabils did not
substitute for the role of El-Sakka, who delivered water from sabils to distant
houses.
Sabils did not only provide passersby with water but
also had a building for teaching children writing, reading, and the Holy Quran.
Sabil Architecture
The Sabil structure consists of an underground floor
for storing water and another one for distributing water to passersby. Sabils architecture
features and style varied from time to time, including the local style, the
Turkish style, and the Ottoman style. The sabil buildings built in the local
architecture style reached 63 out of 70 buildings in Cairo. The sabil
architecture developed and included another floor called Kuttab for teaching the
Quran as a charity.
As for Khesro Pasha Sabil, it was built by
Khesro Pasha, the Ottoman ruler of Egypt, during 941 AH-1535 AD and 943 AH-
1537 AD. It is located on Al-Mo'ez Street, in front of Sultan Qalawun Complex.
It is the oldest Ottoman Sabil remaining in Cairo. Although it was built during
the Ottoman period, it is an example of the local style of Sabil architecture,
and it is independent building.
Sabil Description
The Sabil of Khesro Pasha has two facades
overlook El-Mo'ez Street. Each façade has a window covered with copper grills, and
there is a marble shelf on three stone corbels for water containers.
There were two entrances to the sabil and Kuttab
on El-Nahasin Street in the past, but now the door to the sabil is on the south
side of the tasbil room (sabil main room from which people drink water from). The
tasbil room is fully covered with colored marble and consists of a shazrawan
that has a marble board called Salsabil constructed for water cooling proposes.
The room has a wooden ceiling decorated in colored carvings.
The Kuttab of Khesro Pasha is reachable through
an iron staircase installed by the Committee for the Conservation of Arab
Monuments in 1909 during the Khedive Abbas era, and it has the same design as
the tasbil room.
Mohammad Ali Sabil in Al-Akkadin area
On
El-Mo'ez Street in Al-Ghouria suburb, you can't miss Mohammad Ali Sabil,
another architectural masterpiece built by Mohammad Ali Pasha in 1236 AH- 1820
AD as a charity on behalf of his dead son Prince Ahmed Tusun Pasha, who died of
the plague at the age of 22. Mohammad Ali built this sabil in a distinctive
architectural style resembling the architectural style in Istanbul.
Sabil of Mohammad Ali
architecture
The Sabil of
Mohammad Ali has a curved façade located on the northwest side. It consists of
5 semi-circular arched windows covered with copper grills with oval drawings. Each
window has a rectangular marble sill with decorations from Baroque and Rococo
and a white marble panel on top with Turkish inscriptions about water and its
importance of water.
The Tasbil room of
Mohammad Ali Sabil has a dome decorated with oil and mural paintings from the
inside. The sabil façade and entrance are decorated with gold inscriptions.
The sabil other
façade is on the northeast side, and it overlooks Haret El-Room (El-Room
Alley). It has a rectangular door hatch that leads to a rest house attached to
the sabil for eating and drinking. The sabil also
consists of a Kuttab for teaching Quran on the upper floor.
Moreover, it has a
large underground water reservoir covered with nine stone domes, and its walls
are coated with waterproofing mortars similar to the ancient Roman structure.
The water reservoir has a capacity of 445 thousand liters of water.
Sabil and Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda
In
the heart of the city of Cairo in El-Mo'ez Street lies one of Islamic
architecture's masterpieces which is the Sabil and Kuttab of Abdel Rahman
Katkhuda. This unique and magnificent monument is one of the finest examples of
sabil structure. It was built by Amir Abdel Rahman Katkhuda during the Ottoman
period. Amir Katkhuda was one of Cairo's
greatest architects as he built several mosques and shrines as well as
restoring many mosques and Mamluk madrasas.
Sabil
and Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda has a special artistic importance, for it is a free-standing
complex that consists of a sabil (water dispensary) and a kuttab (Qur'an
school) both of which display many of the glories of Islamic art specific to
the Ottoman period. The building represents the style of sabil that has three
windows and which is a blend of the Mamluk and Ottoman styles.
The Sabil
Description
The sabil has three facades (south, north and
west) that are identical and equal in length. Each façade contains a semi-circular
arch, which is supported by two spiral marble pillars. In the middle of the
arch is a large opening from which cups of water may be obtained for passers-by
(windows for the procurement of water or tasbil).
The tasbil are covered with copper grills in the
form of intersecting tri-lobed arches; these allow drinking-cups to be passed
through them. The spandrels of the arches are decorated with splendid geometric
designs executed in fine polychrome marble. The walls of the outer façade
contain interlocked stone courses in the form of whirling vegetal leaves. The
façade of the sabil is crowned with nine tiers of muqarnas, which bear the
floor of the first story containing the Kuttab. The entrance to the sabil is
located on Tambakshiyya Street, to the left of the southern façade, and
resembles the Mamluk portal.
The entrance is composed of a recessed wall
crowned with a tri-lobed arch and a semi-dome decorated with tiers of muqarnas.
The entrance to the sabil leads to a small
vestibule, which contains three doors: the first is located to the right of the
entrance and leads to the cistern chamber; the second is to the left of the
entrance and leads to the room from which the water is distributed hograt
al-tasbil (water dispensing room), and the third is at the rear of the
vestibule leading to the stairs and up to the kuttab.
The floor-plan of the water-dispensing room is
rectangular (3.50 m x 4.50 m). Three windows are located within the recessed
areas of the room's three walls, which overlook the street. The walls of the
room are paneled with blue-glazed ceramic tiles and decorated with a
multiplicity of vegetal decoration. The southern wall contains a panel of
glazed tiles depicting a view of the Holy Ka'aba and the buildings surrounding
it.
The kuttab, or school room, has a rectangular
floor-plan of the same dimensions as the hograt al-tasbil. The kuttab overlooks
the street from three directions by means of three mashrabiya, and it has seven
marble pillars, which resemble the pillars on the façade.
Source: Discover Islamic Arts Website
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