Cairo is said to contain more than 2000 mosques. The best way to appreciate this is to go out at night to see the city skyline lighted up with thousands of minarets. The grandeous and often used for showcase to visiting dignitaries is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Design along Turkish lines, it took 18 years to build starting in 1830.Mohammed Ali, a lieutenant in the Ottoman Empire took Egypt after a brief French rule of Egypt. He intrigued his way to become governor of Egypt as part of Turkish rule but in reality he was the ruler without any challenge from the Sultan in Istanbul. He was famous for killing 500 Mamluks or the local Egyptian leaders after giving a lavish party. It is ironic such a man of barbaric proportion is remembered by the Mosque he built. He was said to keep his horses in a disused Mamluk Mosque nearby.
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