Sultan Qalawun Opens a Great Hospital in Cairo

In 1284, the Mamluk sultan al-Mansur Sayf al-Din Qalawun initiated construction on an ambitious multifunctional civic and religious complex in the heart of Islamic Cairo. Situated on the prestigious street of Bayn al-Qasrayn, the project occupied the grounds of the former Fatimid Western Palace. Unlike many Mamluk rulers who erected their personal monuments immediately after gaining power, Qalawun delayed the undertaking until he had solidified his rule and repelled Mongol armies in Syria. The finished foundation combined a school, a grand domed mausoleum, a mosque, and an extensive hospital.

The institutional core of the philanthropic portion was the bimaristan, which stood at the rear of the property. Later accounts by the medieval historian al-Maqrizi state that Qalawun pledged to establish such a center after receiving treatment for an illness at the bimaristan of Nur al-Din in Damascus. Positioned at the end of a long, covered corridor that separated the mausoleum from the school, the hospital was planned around two perpendicular axes. It encompassed a rectangular courtyard flanked by four large vaulted halls, or iwans, interspersed with wards, latrines, storage areas, and mortuaries.