El-Gomruk
and el-Anfushi are interesting neighbourhoods to explore,
for their markets and streetlife as well as Ottoman mosques
and mashsrabiya-decorated houses.
The Attarine Mosque
Occupying the site of the
famous Mosque of a Thousand Columns (from which Napoleon
removed the seven-ton sarcophagus now in the British
Museum) the current mosque dates back to the 14th century.
The Mosque of Abu-al-Abbas al-Mursi
Dedicated to
the patron saint of Alexandria's fishermen and sailors, This beautiful mosque, with its high minaret and four domes, is Alexandria's
largest and one of the most important Islamic monuments. In 1775 the
Algerians built the mosque over the tomb of the thirteenth century
Andalusan saint Ahmed Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi who had joined and then
lead the Shadhali brotherhood. The interior is made up of
eight monolithic granite columns and a colonnade of
elongated arches. It was rebuilt in 1943 with the domes
and the towering (73 meter) minaret. It is one of
Alexandria's foremost religious buildings
The Terbana Mosque
situated in al-anfushi, just before entering the suq district, at
the corner of terbana street and suq el-tabakheen street, one finds
this interesting little mosque, the Terbana mosque.
the Terbana mosque is one of the few
remaining ancient mosques in alexandria, it was built in 1677. the
most interesting things to visit in this mosque are: its entrance
(with the two colors bricks), the two huge granite columns with
corinthian capitals and the mehrab, a corner where muslims find the
right direction to mecca.
