Prince Alin Aq Palace

This palace was built by Amir Alin Aq Al Hossami in 693 AH / 1293 AD and is today one of the few Mamluk residences still conserved in Cairo. The Palace of Alin Aq architectural style belongs to the same typology as Prince Bashtak and Menjik Al-Yousfi’s palaces, but Alin Qa is specific by the large of the buildings.

One of the halls of the palace.

Architecture

The palace consists of two floors: the ground floor has a vaulted entrance leading to the courtyard, while the second floor consists of a large two-iwans qa’a currently open-air. Khayer bek connected the main hall of the palace to his funerary complex by a bridge supported underneath by three consecutive arches, to facilitate his access from the palace to his mosque inside his complex for prayers. In spite of the loss of many decorative parts of the palace, the building is still very significant by its large size and the quality of its stonemasonry.

the interior view of the Iwan Palace

1050
people are checking in Prince Alin Aq Palace

The “Comité de Conservation de l’Art Arabe” removed the building which had been added by Mostahfezan in front of the main facade of the palace in 1925 – 1929. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture restored the entire palace as an archaeological evidence between 2004 and 2009.

During restoration

Restoration

A painting of the palace as an historian mentioned

Location:Cairo, Egypt
Coordinates:30° 2′ 8″ N, 31° 15′ 36″ E
Built:Est. 693 AH / 1293 AD.
Governing body:Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Architectural Type:Palace.
Architectural style:Mamluk.

Khayer-Bek Complex

The complex was built by Prince Khayer-Bek in 908 AH / 1502 AD, who was one of the princes of Sultan Al-Ghuri. He played a major role in the political changes in Egypt and Syria, particularity when he cooperated with the Ottomans against his master the sultan Al Ghuri in the battle of Marj Dabek close to Aleppo. For this reason, Egyptians name him Khayn-bek (the traitor) after the incident. When the Ottomans conquered Egypt, they appointed him as an important official for five years until his death in 928 AH / 1521AD.