The oldest mosque in Cairo to have retained its original appearance (9C). Entirely in brick and surrounded by a parapet walk, the edifice has a huge, stunning square courtyard lined with a portico (note the intrados of the arches decorated with delicate geometrical motifs). Admire the stone minaret, a smaller-scale version of the one in Samarra, Iraq, which boasts the only helicoidal outer staircase in Egypt.