The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

tough unyielding personality of its creator. It is small wonder that
Napoleon found this a suitable building in which to garrison his
troops. Little else remains of Baibars’ patronage in Cairo except
the remnants of his madrasa (1262) next to the mausoleum of al-Salih
in al-Mu’izz street. This was originally a large cruciform madrasa
dedicated to the Shafi’i and Hanafi madhahib. All that is left is a
section of a room in the south-west corner with some fine decoration
over the window lintels. The lintels are decorated with tight hexagonal
patterns, reminiscent of the best of Ayyubid woodwork, and between
this and the lance-point decoration above the relieving arch are two
confronted lions. These heraldic beasts are synonymous with Baibars,
and similar lions appear around the base of the Burg al-Siba (Lions’
Tower) in the Citadel. Here they are more sculpturally realized, and
they are all that remains of Baibars’ palace in the southern enclosure.
His legacy, however, is still manifest in those walls and towers, such
as the Bab al-Qulla, that now roughly replace those he originally built
dividing the northern and southern enclosures.
The lions of Baibars are symbolic of his nature and royalty,
but cats of another kind shed a completely different light on his
character. According to E. W. Lane, in his Account of the Manners and
Customs of the Modern Egyptians (1836), Baibars bequeathed a
garden for the benefit of destitute cats:
The sultan Ez-Zahir Beybars bequeathed a garden,
which is called ‘gheyt el-kuttah’ (or the garden of
the cat), near his mosque, in the north of Cairo, for
the benefit of the cats: but this garden has been sold
over and over again, by the trustees and purchasers:
the former sold on pretence of it being too much
out of order to be rendered productive, except at a
considerable expense; and it now produces only a
‘hekre’ (or quit-rent) of fifteen piastres a year, to be
applied to the maintenance of destitute cats. Almost
the whole expense of their support, has in consequence,
fallen on the Kadee, who, by reason of his
office, is the guardian of this and all other charitable
and pious legacies, and must suffer for the
neglect of his predecessors. Latterly, however, the
feeding of the cats has been inadequately performed.
Many people in Cairo, when they want to
get rid of a cat, send or take it to the Kadee’s house,
and let it loose in the great court. 6
above: Lion at the base of Burg al-Siba.
The Architecture of the Bahri Mamluks 129