Ibn Tulun Mosque and Gayer Anderson Museum

Built between 876 and 879 AD the Ibn Tulun Mosque is the oldest mosque built in the city and the largest mosque in terms of land area with 2.5 hectares of land space to keep the city a distance away from the sacred land. This mosque had a unique feature of an exterior wall to create a sense of serenity and sacredness when entered. Eventually houses were built within the walls and later demolished all except for Gayer Anderson house. Gayer Anderson was an orientalist and collector, filling his house with art, furniture, and carpets. When he left Egypt in 1942, he left his house and its contents to the Egyptian government where his house was preserved and turned into a museum. This house is regarded as the best-preserved example of 17th century Cairene architecture and was even used for filming part of a James Bond film, “The Spy Who Loved Me.”